Organizational behavior is a broad part of an organization that examines how individuals perform in organizations. Managers can use concepts and practices of organizational behavior to develop management guidelines for successfully working with and influencing workers to achieve organization objectives. The area of organizational behavior has advanced from the scientific study of management during the industrial era, administrative theories of the manager’s role, principles of bureaucracy, and human relations studies of employees’ needs (Scott, 1992).
Organizational behavior investigates the effect that individual, groups and structure have on conduct within an organization, and apply such knowledge towards improving an organization’s effectiveness. It studies three determinates of behavior in an organization: individuals, groups, and structure. Furthermore, organizational behavior relates the knowledge gained about individuals, groups, and the effect of structure on behavior in order to make the organizations work more effectively. (Robbins, S. & Judge, T., 2009)
According to Denhardt, Denhardt, & Aristigueta individual behavior was not a significant concern for management until the 1930s. From the view of early management theorists, people were mainly viewed as extensions of their tools and machines. It was assumed that if employees were unhappy at work then it was imperative to motivate them by money in order for them to contribute to the organization. It was also assumed that workers would do what they were told, if not, they would be punished or fired.
Frederick Taylor was known as the originator of scientific management, because he implicated a scientific approach to managerial decision making and concluded that the primary motivation of an employee was to earn money. Therefore, the way to get an employee to work harder was to pay by the