The Significance of Learning Organizational Behavior

Having become one of the most prevalent debates in recent years, organizational related studies have became a major topic of study nowadays. Organizations as defined as “ a consciously coordinated social unit, composed of two or more people that functions on a relatively continuous basis to achieve a common goal or set of goals.” So we can see that individuals, walking under the flag of organization are valuable resources to the firm. It is totally impossible to find an organization without any manpower. So, as long as organizations are consisted of individuals, it is very important to know and learn about these fundamental elements of the firms. And that is the reason the concept of organizational behavior is a major field of study these days. Organizational behavior is defined as “ a field of study that investigates the impact that individuals, groups, and structure have on behavior within organizations, for the purpose of applying such knowledge toward improving an organization’s effectiveness.” Or in other words, it is “the study of what people think, feel, and do in and around organizations.” And because the nature of human being is a sophisticated, multidimensional phenomenon, wide ranges of disciplines are required. Psychology, sociology, anthropology, political science, economics and industrial engineering are the traditional disciplines and communications, information system, marketing and women’s studies are the emerging disciplines toward studying organizational behavior.

Being in the shoes of an employee or, on the other hand, as a senior manager, it is vital to understand, predict and even influence self or others behaviors. Each person has an inherent need to understand and predict the world. Because much of each individual’s time is spent working in or around organization, OB theories are particularly helpful in satisfying this innate drive to make sense of the workplace. OB theories also give the opportunity to question and rebuild personal mental models that have developed through observation and experience.

Understanding and predicting are important, but it is also needed to influence the organizations in various