What Is Organizational Behavior?

To begin our study of organizational behavior, we could just say that it is the study of behavior
in organizations and the study of the behavior of organizations, but such a definition reveals
nothing about what this study involves or examines. To reach a more useful and meaningful
definition, let’s first look at what an organization is. An organization is a collection of
people who work together and coordinate their actions to achieve a wide variety of goals.
The goals are what individuals are trying to accomplish as members of an organization (earning
a lot of money, helping promote a worthy cause, achieving certain levels of personal
power and prestige, enjoying a satisfying work experience, and so forth). The goals are also
what the organization as a whole is trying to accomplish (providing innovative goods and
services that customers want; getting candidates elected; raising money for medical research;
making a profit to reward stockholders, managers, and employees; and being socially responsible
and protecting the natural environment). An effective organization is one that achieves
its goals.

Police forces, for example, are formed to achieve the goals of providing security for lawabiding
citizens and providing police officers with a secure, rewarding career while they perform
their valuable services. Paramount Pictures was formed to achieve the goal of providing
people with entertainment while making a profit in the process. Actors, directors, writers, and
musicians receive well-paid and interesting work.

Organizations exist to provide goods and services that people want, and the amount and quality
of these goods and services are products of the behaviors and performance of an organization’s
employees—of its managers, of highly skilled employees in sales or research and development,
and of the employees who actually produce or provide the goods and services. Today, most people
make their living by working in or for some kind of company or organization. People such as a
company’s owners or managers—or company employees who desire to become future owners or
managers—all benefit from studying organizational behavior. Indeed, people who seek to help or
volunteer their time to work in nonprofit or charitable organizations also must learn the principles
of organizational behavior. Like most employees today, volunteers attend training courses that help
them understand the many kinds of issues and challenges that arise when people work together and
cooperate in a company or organization