Read this article to learn the relationship between organizational behavior and other fields of

study.

Organisational behaviour is an interdisciplinary approach as it has borrowed concepts, theories, models

and practices of physical sciences as well as social sciences. The main features of organisational

behaviour are primarily based on behavioural sciences. The organisational behaviour is studied in relation

to psychology, sociology, political science, anthropology, economics, science, technology and

environmental sciences. OB is, in fact, called an applied behavioural science.

The relationship of OB with other fields of study is depicted in the following diagram:
Psychology:

The term ‘psychology’ is derived from the Greek World ‘Psyche’ which means ‘soul’ or ‘spirit’.

Organisational behaviour studies human behaviour which is concerned mainly with the psychology of the

people. Psychology, especially, industrial or organisational psychology is the greatest contributor to the

field of organisational behaviour. Psychologists study behaviour and industrial or organisational

psychologists deal specifically with the behaviour of people in organisational settings.

Psychology as a science, measures, explains and suggests the appropriate human behaviour. Individual

behaviour is governed by perception, learning and personality. Industrial psychology understands

people’s behaviour at work, particularly under different working conditions, stress, conflicts and other

related behaviour of employees. Job satisfaction, performance appraisals and reward systems are

measured and directed with the use of psychological theories and models.

Group behaviour in the organisations is studied, researched and molded with the use of theories of Social

Psychology. The communication system in the organisation, attitudes of employees, their needs etc. as a

subject of social psychology have a great influence on behaviour. Thus, many of the concepts which

interest psychologists e.g. learning, motivation etc. are also central to the students of organisational

behaviour. We can conclude that the contribution of psychology in the field of organisational behaviour is

quite significant.
Hugo Munsterberg was a Harvard psychologist who was interested in the study of applied

psychology and how it could be used to examine organizational psychology. It is a subset of

psychology, and is calledorganizational psychology, which was fixated on the motivation and

behavior of workers. Motivational theories of organizational behavior were intrinsic to helping

companies increase worker productivity, job commitment and achievement. Psychology was a

huge part of what became organizational behavior, as it explained the internal and external

influences on individuals' work performance and behavior. The second field had an impact on groups

within an organization.

Sociology:

Sociology also has a major impact on the study of organisational behaviour. Sociology makes use of

scientific methods in accumulating knowledge about the social behaviour of the groups. Sociologists

study social systems such as a family, an occupational class, a mob or an organisation. It specifically

studies, social groups, social behaviour, society, customs, institutions, social classes, status, social

mobility, prestige etc.

It studies the behaviour of the people in the society in relation to their fellow human beings. Sociology

contributes to organisational behaviour through its contribution to the study of interpersonal dynamics like

leadership, group dynamics, communication etc. Socialisation is accepted for molding the behaviour of

people where the capacities of individuals to learn and respond to social systems, values, norms and

social roles are accelerated and appreciated. The attitudes and behavioural patterns of individuals and

groups are greatly influenced by socialisation.

Sociology was the second discipline that helped form the basis for organizational behavior. The

term means the study of society, and this helps researchers understand group dynamics and how

they impact organizations. For example, in 1957 Harvard researchers defined the term role set as

how individuals perform different roles in a group environment. Role sets led researchers to further
study roles of workers in organizations to see how productivity and motivation could be improved by

different techniques using teamwork. 

Anthropology:

Anthropology is concerned with the interactions between people and their environment, especially their

cultural environment. Culture is a major influence on the structure of organisations as well as on the

behaviour of people within organisations. ‘Anthropo’ is a Greek word which means ‘man’ and ‘logy’ means

‘Science’. Aristotle defined anthropology as a science of man’s self understanding. It particularly studies

civilization, forms of cultures and their impact on individuals and groups, biological features of man and

evolutionary pattern, speech and relationship among languages.

Anthropology contributes in understanding the cultural effects on organisational behaviour, effects of

value systems, norms, sentiments, cohesion and interaction. Socialization involves spreading of values

and missions of organisation among employees. Anthropology influences the employees’ behaviour

through motivation, interaction, goal setting, decision making, coordinating and controlling.

Political Science:

In recent times, political science has also started interesting the organisational behaviourists. Political

Science is usually, thought of as the study of political systems. But political scientists are interested in

how and why people acquire power, political behaviour, decision making, conflict, the behaviour of

interest groups and coalition formation. These are also major areas of interest in organisational

behaviour.

Political parties and Government directly intervene in many activities of the organisation. Specific

principles of political science are observed in organisational behaviour for delegation of authority and

responsibility, conflict resolution and stress management.

In organisations, people strive for power and leadership recognition. Political Science helps in the
management of men in an effective and efficient manner. Political perspectives and government
policies are thoroughly analyzed for molding and modifying the behaviour of people, because
they greatly influence the organisation. The law and order of the country influence the people at
work.
Political science involves the study of individual and group behavior within a particular political
environment. It has made significant contribution in the areas of structuring of conflict, allocation of
power, politics within the organization and the overall administrative process.
Political science has contributed immensely in developing a general theory of human behavior at work.
Various disciplines tend to study very specific and narrow aspects of human behavior, resulting in
fragmentation of knowledge. Behavioral science must attempt to integrate the concepts and principles
from all the disciplines to make a comprehensive study of human behavior.

Economics:

Economists study the production, distribution and consumption of goods and services. Students of

organisational behaviour share the economist’s interest in such areas as labour market dynamics,

productivity, human resource planning and forecasting, and cost benefit analysis.

The economic conditions of a country have long lasting impact on organizational behavior. If
psychological and economic expectations of employee are met, they are satisfied and become
high performers. Economic systems include financial, commercial and industrial activities which
have greater influences on the behaviour of the people. The consumption pattern in society
monitors the behaviour of employees. Consumption oriented society witnesses a different
employee behaviour from that of a production oriented society. Economic
Economics is a science of production, distribution and consumption of goods and services.
Economics provides insights into the aspects of decision and choice, factors that need to be considered
while choosing the most suitable option, policies that affect the economic growth of a firm and  allocating
limited resources to competing alternatives.
 Psychological Theories

Attribution theory – is concerned with the ways in which people explain (or attribute) the
behaviour of others. The theory divides the way people attribute causes to events into two
types. External or "situational" attributions assign causality to an outside factor, such as the
weather. Internal or "dispositional" attributions assign causality to factors within the person, such
as ability or personality.

 Cognitive dissonance – was originally based on the concept of cognitive consistency, but is now
more related to self-concept theory. When people do something that violates their view of
themselves, this causes an uncomfortable state of dissonance that motivates a change in either
attitudes or behaviour (Festinger, 1957).
 Drive theory – posits that the presence of an audience causes arousal which creates dominant
or typical responses in the context of the situation.
 Elaboration likelihood model – maintains that information processing, often in the case of a
persuasion attempt can be divided into two separate processes based on the "likelihood of
cognitive elaborations," that is, whether people think critically about the content of a message, or
respond to superficial aspects of the message and other immediate cues.
 Motivation crowding theory - suggests that extrinsic motivators such as monetary incentives or
punishments can undermine (or, under different conditions, strengthen)intrinsic motivation.[1]
 Observational learning (social learning) – suggests that behaviour can be acquired by
observation and imitation of others, unlike traditional learning theories which require
reinforcement or punishment for learning to occur.
 Schemata theory – focuses on "schemas" which are cognitive structures that organize
knowledge and guide information processing. They take the form of generalized beliefs that can
operate automatically and lead to biases in perception and memory.
 Self-perception theory – emphasizes that we observe ourselves in the same manner that we
observe others, and draw conclusions about our likes and dislikes. Extrinsic self perceptions can
lead to the over-justification effect.
 Self-verification theory – focuses on people’s desire to be known and understood by others. The
key assumption is that once people develop firmly held beliefs about themselves, they come to
prefer that others see them as they see themselves.
 Social comparison theory – suggests that humans gain information about themselves, and make
inferences that are relevant to self-esteem, by comparison to relevant others.
 Social exchange theory – is an economic social theory that assumes human relationships are
based on rational choice and cost-benefit analyses. If one partner's costs begin to outweigh his
or her benefits, that person may leave the relationship, especially if there are good alternatives
available.
 Social identity theory – was developed by Henri Tajfel and examines how categorizing people
(including oneself) into ingroups or outgroups affects perceptions, attitudes, and behavior.
 Social penetration theory – proposes that, as relationships develop, interpersonal
communication moves from relatively shallow, non-intimate levels to deeper, more intimateones.
[2]
 The theory was formulated by psychologists Irwin Altman and Dalmas Taylor in 1973 to
provide an understanding of the closeness between two individuals.
 Socioemotional selectivity theory – posits that as people age and their perceived time left in life
decreases, they shift from focusing on information seeking goals to focusing on emotional goals.
 System justification theory – proposes that people have a motivation to defend and bolster
the status quo, in order to continue believing that their social, political, and economic systems
are legitimate and just.
 Terror management theory – suggests that human mortality causes existential dread and terror,
and that much of human behavior exists as a buffer against this dread (e.g.,self-
esteem and worldviews).
 Triangular theory of love – by Sternberg, characterizes love in an interpersonal relationship on
three different scales: intimacy, passion, and commitment. Different stages and types of love
can be categorized by different combinations of these three elements.
Job satisfaction or employee satisfaction has been defined in many different ways. Some
believe it is simply how content an individual is with his or her job, in other words, whether or
not they like the job or individual aspects or facets of jobs, such as nature of work or
supervision.

Absenteeism the practice of regularly staying away from work or school without good reason.
The Classification of Words and Other Elements

010.1 The classification of words and other elements must be based on structural, i.e.
grammatical, features. Meaning-based classification is not very helpful for two
reasons: a) definitions of parts of speech based on meaning tend to be ambiguous; b)
such definitions do not conform to the grammatical features of a language (Gleason:
115ff.; Fries: 65-86, 87f., 202ff.). If classification is derived from structure, however,
there are two sets of criteria which may be used, and these do not always coincide: 1)
One set of criteria may be derived from the words themselves, i.e. from morphological
criteria; 2) Another may be derived from the ways a word may be used in a sentence.
The ideal would be to achieve a classification that would integrate these two sets as
fully as possible.

010.2 Classification by definition may not be feasible in any case. It is difficult to

achieve definitions that account for all the phenomena. One may circumvent
definition by making use of a set of characteristics that circumscribes a category or
class of words (the method of C. C. Fries). In the case of extremely small classes, like
negatives, personal pronouns, and the like, one may classify by listing all, or nearly
all, the examples. In the case of large classes, one may classify by comparison, i.e. by
inquiring, presumably of someone with native response, whether a certain item
belongs to one class or another. Native users of a language undoubtedly learn to
classify words in just this way. Such a method would only approximate the
requirements of a grammar, but it may well have considerable pedagogical value
(Gleason: 118ff.).

011.1 Words and other elements in Greek have been customarily classified in relation
to traditional "parts of speech," e.g. noun, adjective, verb, etc. One of the respects in
which this grammar remains conventional is in its use of "parts of speech." The road
to a purely descriptive analysis of the "parts of speech" in Greek appears to be long.
Yet some preliminary steps can be taken in that direction. While conventional
terminology is retained, some significant modifications have been introduced. It is
therefore necessary to state at the outset what is meant by "parts of speech," to
indicate how the labels are used in this grammar. It is also necessary to stipulate that
there are points at which strict usage breaks down; this failure poses problems for the
theoretician, but it does not constitute a major impediment for the beginner, nor, for
that matter, for the first stages of descriptive analysis.

011.2 The "parts of speech" as employed in this grammar are based in the first
instance on purely morphological considerations. The basic groups are distinguished
by means of criteria relative to an inflectional system. This procedure yields three
fundamental divisions:
 I. Words belonging to the nominal system
II. Words belonging to the verbal system
III. Words fixed in form, i.e. uninflected

The breakdown of these larger categories has proceeded, moreover, along

morphological lines, insofar as possible. Certain inflectional patterns are readily
isolable within the first and second categories, while other subgroups are more or less
arbitrary. In division III, it will be necessary to invoke other than morphological
criteria. As a consequence, "parts of speech" refer first of all to morphological
distinctions, and secondly to grammatical distinctions. It will be necessary finally to
integrate these two sets of data (§010.1).

Where, for example, the term "noun" is used, it is to be understood as denoting a word
that belongs to a particular inflectional system, in this case the nominal system.
"Adjectives" and "pronouns" also belong to the nominal system, but they can be
distinguished from each other and from nouns on purely morphological grounds. That
is not to say that each is distinguishable in a given sentence on this basis; distinctions
depend upon referring specific items to the inflectional system as a whole.

"Parts of speech" are particularly useful, as a consequence, in helping the student to

come to terms with the morphological aspects of the language. This aspect constitutes
a serious hurdle for most beginners. Once the inflectional systems and patterns have
been grasped, it is then possible to employ "parts of speech" in grammatical
descriptions. For example, to say that a "noun" characteristically appears as the head
term in word clusters occurring as the "subject" in sentences, is to say that a word
belonging to a certain inflectional system and pattern commonly occurs as the head
term in such clusters. It is not to say that "nouns" are normally "subjects," or that
"nouns" are the names of persons, places, or things.

011.3 Even so, the lines among these major divisions and among the subdivisions are
by no means entirely clear. There is a certain amount of duplication and many areas of
gray. It will be helpful, consequently, to set out the categories and define them as
closely as possible, while maintaining a certain reservation with respect to their
precision.

I. Words Belonging to the Nominal System

012.1Nouns. Formally, nouns have one gender (though they may be used in more than
one gender, or fluctuate in gender), and are inflected for four cases, and normally two
numbers (singular and plural). A noun is a word that belongs to one of three
declensions presented in §§130-203. Unfortunately, there is a group of so-called
nouns that are only partially declined or indeclinable (consisting largely of foreign
proper names taken into Greek). Here we fall back, in part, on the traditional
definition of a noun: these words are taken to be nouns because they are "like" Greek
nouns, i.e. they name something. But they are "like" nouns in a more important
respect: they occur in those structures in which nouns appear.

012.2Pronouns. While pronouns also belong to the nominal system, they are restricted
in person and/or number and/or gender and/or case. As a consequence, they manifest
declension patterns that are comparable to those of adjectives, only restricted (§§256-
2580).

012.3Adjectives. Adjectives differ formally from nouns in that they are inflected
for three genders (masculine and feminine may be identical in form) rather than one.
This makes it possible for the relation of adjective as "modifier" to any noun as head
term to be signaled by agreement in gender, number and case. In other respects
adjectives follow the inflectional patterns of nouns (§§220-2451).

012.4Pronominal adjectives. Pronominal adjectives are declined like adjectives, but

appear exclusively or also in structures in which adjectives do not appear. Since this
group belongs morphologically with adjectives, its isolation depends entirely on
syntactical criteria (§§259-274).

II. Words Belonging to the Verbal System

013.1Verbs. Finite verbs are formally distinguished by personal endings. They are
also marked by morphological variables that specify tense, mood, voice. They have
tense and voice in common with infinitives and participles, but not mood and personal
endings, which the latter lack. Verbs follow the inflectional patterns treated in §§300-
496.

013.2Infinitives. The infinitive is a "verbal noun" in a fixed case, yet it exhibits

"tense" (§§0309ff.) and voice like finite verbs (§§464-4662).

013.3Participles. The participle is a "verbal adjective." It is declined like an adjective,

yet it also manifests the morphological markers of "tense" (§§0309ff.) and voice like
finite verbs (§§246-250; 0467-469). Though participles must be considered under
both the nominal and the verbal systems, for convenience they are listed here only
under the verbal system.

013.4The assumption here, as in the case of the nominal system, is that words
belonging to these groups can be identified formally, on morphological grounds,
without recourse to function in the sentence or lexical meaning. The sole exception
thus far is pronominal adjectives (§012.4), which belong formally to the category of
adjectives.

III. Words Fixed in Form (Uninflected)

014.1 Words fixed in form are sometimes collected together under the general rubric
of "adverbs" or "particles." Distinctions cannot easily be made on a formal basis. Yet
there are some natural groups which can be isolated on the basis of form in
combination with the structures in which they characteristically appear.

014.2Adverbs. The adverb is characterized by a fixed case form (often obscured)

and/or certain suffixes (also fixed in form). Some adverbs are also subject to
comparison (positive, comparative, superlative), in which case they are not, strictly
speaking, uninflected. The adverb is further distinguishable from the preposition (to
which it is closely related) in that the adverb does not "govern a case."

014.3Prepositions. The preposition is an adverb which has come to "govern a case,"

i.e. it is used with a case that is thought to depend upon the preposition. Prepositions
are conventionally divided into "proper" and "improper" prepositions, depending upon
whether or not they can also be joined with a verb to form a compound word. The
proper preposition can be so employed, the "improper" preposition cannot.

014.4Particles. The remaining words fixed in form may be termed particles for want
of a better term. Particles include negatives, sequence words (conjunctions, sentence
connectors, subordinators), modalizers and nuance words.

014.5 It is obvious that the breakdown of division III depends more on grammatical
than on morphological criteria. Subdivisions will therefore require justification in the
syntax (Part III).
1) The expository essay
 

What is it?
This is a writer’s explanation of a short theme, idea or issue.

The key here is that you are explaining an issue, theme or idea to your intended audience. Your reaction to a work of
literature could be in the form of an expository essay, for example if you decide to simply explain your personal
response to a work. The expository essay can also be used to give a personal response to a world event, political
debate, football game, work of art and so on.

What are its most important qualities?

You want to get and, of course, keep your reader’s attention. So, you should:

 Have a well defined thesis. Start with a thesis statement/research question/statement of intent. Make sure
you answer your question or do what you say you set out to do. Do not wander from your topic. 
 Provide evidence to back up what you are saying. Support your arguments with facts and reasoning. Do not
simply list facts, incorporate these as examples supporting your position, but at the same time make your
point as succinctly as possible. 
 The essay should be concise. Make your point and conclude your essay. Don’t make the mistake of
believing that repetition and over-stating your case will score points with your readers.
 

2) The persuasive essay

What is it?
This is the type of essay where you try to convince the reader to adopt your position on an issue or point of view.

Here your rationale, your argument, is most important. You are presenting an opinion and trying to persuade readers,
you want to win readers over to your point of view.

What are its most important qualities?

 Have a definite point of view. 

 Maintain the reader’s interest. 
 Use sound reasoning. 
 Use solid evidence. 
 Be aware of your intended audience. How can you win them over? 
 Research your topic so your evidence is convincing. 
 Don’t get so sentimental or so passionate that you lose the reader, as Irish poet W. B. Yeats put it: 
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity
 Your purpose is to convince someone else so don’t overdo your language and don’t bore the reader. And
don’t keep repeating your points! 
 Remember the rules of the good paragraph. One single topic per paragraph, and natural progression from
one to the next. 
 End with a strong conclusion. 
 

3) The analytical essay

What is it?
In this type of essay you analyze, examine and interpret such things as an event, book, poem, play or other work of
art. 

What are its most important qualities?

Your analytical essay should have an:

 Introduction and presentation of argument 

The introductory paragraph is used to tell the reader what text or texts you will be discussing. Every literary
work raises at least one major issue. In your introduction you will also define the idea or issue of the text that
you wish to examine in your analysis. This is sometimes called the thesis or research question. It is
important that you narrow the focus of your essay.
 Analysis of the text (the longest part of the essay) 
The issue you have chosen to analyze is connected to your argument. After stating the problem, present
your argument. When you start analyzing the text, pay attention to the stylistic devices (the “hows” of the
text) the author uses to convey some specific meaning. You must decide if the author accomplishes his goal
of conveying his ideas to the reader. Do not forget to support your assumptions with examples and
reasonable judgment.
 Personal response
Your personal response will show a deeper understanding of the text and by forming a personal meaning
about the text you will get more out of it. Do not make the mistake of thinking that you only have to have a
positive response to a text. If a writer is trying to convince you of something but fails to do so, in your
opinion, your critical personal response can be very enlightening. The key word here is critical. Base any
objections on the text and use evidence from the text. Personal response should be in evidence throughout
the essay, not tacked on at the end. 
 Conclusion (related to the analysis and the argument)
Your conclusion should explain the relation between the analyzed text and the presented argument.
Tips for writing analytical essays:

 Be well organized. Plan what you want to write before you start. It is a good idea to know exactly what your
conclusion is going to be before you start to write. When you know where you are going, you tend to get
there in a well organized way with logical progression.
 Analytical essays normally use the present tense. When talking about a text, write about it in the present
tense. 
 Be “objective”: avoid using the first person too much. For example, instead of saying “I think Louisa is
imaginative because…”, try: “It appears that Louisa has a vivid imagination, because…”. 
 Do not use slang or colloquial language (the language of informal speech). 
 Do not use contractions. 
 Avoid using “etc.” This is an expression that is generally used by writers who have nothing more to say. 
 Create an original title, do not use the title of the text. 
 Analysis does not mean retelling the story. Many students fall into the trap of telling the reader what is
happening in the text instead of analyzing it. Analysis aims to explain how the writer makes us see what he
or she wants us to see, the effect of the writing techniques, the text’s themes and your personal response to
these.
 

4) The argumentative essay

What is it?
This is the type of essay where you prove that your opinion, theory or hypothesis about an issue is correct or more
truthful than those of others. In short, it is very similar to the persuasive essay (see above), but the difference is that
you are arguing for your opinion as opposed to others, rather than directly trying to persuade someone to adopt your
point of view.
What are its most important qualities?

 The argument should be focused

 The argument should be a clear statement (a question cannot be an argument)
 It should be a topic that you can support with solid evidence
 The argumentative essay should be based on pros and cons (see below)
 Structure your approach well (see below)
 Use good transition words/phrases (see below)
 Be aware of your intended audience. How can you win them over?
 Research your topic so your evidence is convincing.
 Don’t overdo your language and don’t bore the reader. And don’t keep repeating your points!
 Remember the rules of the good paragraph. One single topic per paragraph, and natural progression from
one to the next.
 End with a strong conclusion.
 

Tips for writing argumentative essays:

1) Make a list of the pros and cons in your plan before you start writing. Choose the most important that support your
argument (the pros) and the most important to refute (the cons) and focus on them.

2) The argumentative essay has three approaches. Choose the one that you find most effective for your argument.
Do you find it better to “sell” your argument first and then present the counter arguments and refute them? Or do you
prefer to save the best for last?

 Approach 1:
Thesis statement (main argument):
Pro idea 1
Pro idea 2
Con(s) + Refutation(s): these are the opinions of others that you disagree with. You must clearly specify
these opinions if you are to refute them convincingly.
Conclusion
 Approach 2:
Thesis statement:
Con(s) + Refutation(s)
Pro idea 1
Pro idea 2
Conclusion
 Approach 3
Thesis statement:
Con idea 1 and the your refutation
Con idea 2 and the your refutation
Con idea 3 and the your refutation
Conclusion
3) Use good transition words when moving between arguments and most importantly when moving from pros to cons
and vice versa. For example:

 While I have shown that.... other may say

 Opponents of this idea claim / maintain that …            
 Those who disagree claim that …
 While some people may disagree with this idea...
When you want to refute or counter the cons you may start with:

 However,
 Nonetheless,
  but
 On the other hand,
 This claim notwithstanding
If you want to mark your total disagreement:

 After seeing this evidence, it is impossible to agree with what they say
 Their argument is irrelevant
 Contrary to what they might think ...
These are just a few suggestions. You can, of course, come up with many good transitions of your own.

4) Use facts, statistics, quotes and examples to convince your readers of your argument