Organizational behaviour is the study of how individuals and groups act within organizations. It takes a systems approach, examining people-organization relationships through the lens of the individual, group, organization, and larger social system. Its goal is to improve these relationships and achieve human, organizational, and social objectives. An organization's culture is determined by its leadership, communication, group dynamics, and more, which influence employee motivation and ultimately performance, satisfaction, and development. Organizational behaviour provides managers tools to systematically shape employee behaviour, such as motivation theories to satisfy various needs, and operant conditioning techniques like reinforcement and punishment to modify behaviours.

1. Organizational Behaviour
Organizational Behaviour (OB) is the study and application of knowledge about how
people, individuals, and groups act in organizations. It does this by taking a system
approach. That is, it interprets people-organization relationships in terms of the whole
person, whole group, whole organization, and whole social system. Its purpose is to build
better relationships by achieving human objectives, organizational objectives, and social
objectives.
Elements of Organizational Behaviour
The organization's base rests on management's philosophy, values, vision and goals. This
in turn drives the organizational culture which is composed of the formal organization,
informal organization, and the social environment. The culture determines the type of
leadership, communication, and group dynamics within the organization. The workers
perceive this as the quality of work life which directs their degree of motivation. The
final outcomes are performance, individual satisfaction, and personal growth and
development. All these elements combine to build the model or framework that the
organization operates from.
Managerial Duties
Managers perform a broad range of activities like allocating resources, making decisions
directing the attitudes of others to achieve goals. Organizational Behaviour helps
managers to gain the following outcomes by replacing intuition with systematic study:
Changing Individual Behaviour
Managers shape individuals behaviour by enforcing learning concepts to solve individual
level of problems.
Operant Conditioning: Operant conditioning is the use of consequences to modify the
occurrence and form of behaviour. Operant conditioning is distinguished from classical
conditioning (also called respondent conditioning, or Pavlovian conditioning) in that

2. operant conditioning deals with the modification of "voluntary behaviour" or operant
behaviour. Operant behaviour "operates" on the environment and is maintained by its
consequences.
Reinforcement and punishment, the core tools of operant conditioning, are either positive
(delivered following a response), or negative (withdrawn following a response). This
creates a total of four basic consequences, with the addition of a fifth procedure known as
extinction (i.e. no change in consequences following a response).
Reinforcement is a consequence that causes behaviour to occur with greater frequency.
Punishment is a consequence that causes behaviour to occur with less frequency.
Extinction is the lack of any consequence following a response. When a response is
inconsequential, producing neither favourable nor unfavourable consequences, it will
occur with less frequency.
Positive reinforcement occurs when behaviour (response) is followed by a favourable
stimulus (commonly seen as pleasant) that increases the frequency of that behaviour. In
the Skinner box experiment, a stimulus such as food or sugar solution can be delivered
when the rat engages in target behaviour, such as pressing a lever.
Negative reinforcement occurs when a behaviour (response) is followed by the removal
of an aversive stimulus (commonly seen as unpleasant) thereby increasing that
behaviour’s frequency. In the Skinner box experiment, negative reinforcement can be a
loud noise continuously sounding inside the rat's cage until it engages in the target
behaviour, such as pressing a lever, upon which the loud noise is removed.
Positive punishment (also called "Punishment by contingent stimulation") occurs when
behaviour (response) is followed by an aversive stimulus, such as introducing a shock or
loud noise, resulting in a decrease in that behaviour.
Negative punishment (also called "Punishment by contingent withdrawal") occurs when a
behaviour (response) is followed by the removal of a favourable stimulus, such as taking

3. away a child's toy following an undesired behaviour, resulting in a decrease in that
behaviour
Using Motivation theories
Organizational Behaviour helps managers providing motivation theories to motivate
employees in order to:
• Promote a healthy work force- satisfy employee’s physiological needs by
providing incentives for mental and physical health
• Provide financial security- an important safety need
• go beyond traditional forms of compensation
• address issue of job security, including out placement services
• Promote opportunities to socialize- organize events that help to satisfy social
needs
• Recognize employee’s accomplishments- award programs satisfy esteem needs
Managers that utilize these tools and ideas can be successful motivators.
Conclusion
Behaviour generally is predictable if we know how the person perceived the situation and
what is important to him or her. An observer often sees behaviour as non rational because
the observer does not perceive the environment in the same way. Certainly there are
differences between individuals, placed in the same situation all people don’t act exactly
alike. However there are certain fundamental consistencies underlying the behaviour of
all individuals that can be identified and then modified to reflect individual development.
Organizational Behaviour helps managers predict employee behaviour, shape them and

4. remove undesired behaviours. As management deals with people, Organizational
Behaviour Studies helps to manage these people in a systematic way.