Rack BB1 – Organizational Behavior (Micro-Individual)

TAOP Resources Library -- Aisle B (Theories)

Resources: Main Page | Research Methods (A) | Major Theories (B) | Issues and Contemporary Topics (C) | Professional Education (D)

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What is Organizational Behavior (OB) and Where Does the Behavior of the Individual Fit?

Organizational Behavior (OB) is a broad interdisciplinary field that explores how people interact within organizational settings. It examines the behavior of individuals and groups within organizational contexts and draws from multiple disciplines, including psychology, sociology, anthropology, economics, and management science, to understand how people think, feel, and act in workplace environments.

Because many of the classic texts we cover fall under OB’s broad umbrella, we saw fit to divide our episodes by levels of analysis. This rack contains resources devoted to understanding OB at the individual member (micro) level, while other racks covers the group and team (meso) level and organization-system (macro) level.

Understanding individual behavior is arguably most fundamental aspect of OB. This involves exploring factors such as personal motivations and attitudes, individual perception and decision-making processes, personality traits and their impact on workplace performance, and cognitive factors like emotional intelligence and its role in professional interactions.

The values and contributions of micro-level OB research are many. Studies have provided great insights into understanding human behavior and why people act they way they do in organizational settings. By understanding individual motivations and how they interact with group and organizational dynamics, it might be possible to motivate employees better, improve their productivity, and increase satisfaction. It can also help with better job design and understanding the impacts of organizational changes or leader actions.

Useful applications of OB at the micro level abound. Consider a hypothetical tech start-up that is experiencing rapid growth. OB principles might help leaders with designing the organization with clear, tailored divisions of work that balance creativity with efficiency as the start-up grows. OB can also help manage the psychological challenges of dealing with the rapid scaling, and eventually (hopefully) stabilization after the growth spurt.

Some of the practical questions that OB studies might help answer include the following: How do different personalities and traits influence interactions within the organization? To what extent do factors outside the workplace influence worker behavior? What motivates people outside of their salary?

What are Some OB Theories at Micro Level?

This is a short list. Several of these have already been covered in this program (Episodes are linked and also available in the resources below):

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory

This foundational psychological theory helps explain human motivation in the workplace by proposing that human needs are organized in a somewhat hierarchical structure. The theory separate needs into various intensities from the physiological needs such as food and shelter, safety needs such as a stable environment, social needs like belonging and social interactions, esteem needs such as recognition, and full self-actualization such as finding meaning and growth. However, as we discussed in Episode 3, this theory does not include a pyramid! That was introduced by other authors and Maslow himself did not agree with it!

Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory

Frederick Herzberg discovered that workplace satisfaction is influenced by two distinct types of factors: motivational factors like achievement, recognition, the work itself, responsibility, advancement, and growth; and hygiene factors like policies and procedures, salaries, job security, and others. Motivational factors produced satisfaction and enabled work while hygiene factors reduced dissatisfaction and lifted barriers to the work.

As we discussed in Episode 101, removing dissatisfiers doesn’t automatically create satisfaction. Organizations must actively implement motivational factors to truly engage employees.

Other Theories of Motivation

Developed by psychologists Edward Deci and Richard Ryan, self-determination theory explores intrinsic motivation by highlighting three core psychological needs — autonomy or feeling in control of one’s actions, competence or experiencing effectiveness and mastery, and relatedness or feeling connected to others.

Meanwhile, Victor Vroom’s expectancy theory suggests that motivation is a function of three key perceptions: expectancy or belief that effort will lead to good performance, instrumentality or belief that performance will result in rewards, and valence or the value placed on the expected reward. So for example, an employee considering extra effort on a project might ask themselves questions like “can I actually do an excellent job?” (Expectancy), “will doing an excellent job lead to a promotion?” (Instrumentality), and “do I want that promotion?” (Valence).

Personality Theories and Assessments

These types of theories try to capture and explain individual differences. There are many personality models and instruments available. One prominent example is the Big Five Personality Traits of Openness to Experience, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism. Each can be measured on a scale of high to low and carry

Attribution Theory

This theory explores how individuals explain the causes of behaviors and events. It includes internal attribution where one believes that behaviors result from personal characteristics and external attribution where behaviors result from situational factors. This affects individual orientations to the environment and their interactions with others, especially supervisors.

Social Cognitive Theory

Albert Bandura’s theory emphasizes learning through observation, self-efficacy and belief in one’s capabilities, and reciprocal determinism such as interaction between personal factors, behavior, and environment. For example, mentorship programs leverage social cognitive principles by allowing employees to learn through role models.

Emerging Perspective: Contemporary OB research increasingly recognizes the complexity of individual behavior, moving beyond simplistic, linear models.

Contemporary Research Areas

Micro-level OB research is highly active and there are many practical applications and concerns, including some of the “hot topics” in Aisle C.

Digital Transformation, Technological Integration, and the Gig Economy

Also see Rack CD. This research area explores the profound impact of digital technologies on organizational life. How can organizations leverage technological advancements while maintaining human-centric workplace experiences? Scholars are particularly interested in understanding the complex interactions between human workers and increasingly sophisticated technological systems.

Some areas of interest include the psychological and social implications of remote and hybrid work models, how artificial intelligence transforms organizational processes and decision-making, the development of digital leadership competencies, and others. There are also the impacts of the gig economy such as considerations regarding technological platforms and workforce coordination, career development in fluid work environments, and emerging non-traditional workforce models (also see Rack CW on the meaning of work).

Employee Well-being and Mental Health Frameworks

The well-being and mental health of employees has long been deemed to be important, but is a moving target. Our Episode 109 covered the evolution of the mental health professions and showed how personal problems and the expertise to treat them have co-evolved over time. Research in organizations has recently focused on how to sustain and improve mental health given the unique conditions of contemporary work environments, preventing burnout or other signs of dissatisfaction, enhancing work-life balance, and improve individual resilience against adversity.

Emotional Intelligence and Relational Dynamics

This research stream investigates the critical role of emotional and social competencies in organizational settings. How does one measure and (more importantly) cultivate emotional intelligence, for example? There are also implications for group and team dynamics such as addressing potential antecedents to conflict and developing the capacity to show empathy toward others.

Character and Ethical Behavior

Researchers are exploring the ethical dimensions of organizational behavior with increasing sophistication to include ethical decision-making processes, leadership integrity and trust mechanisms, and addressing antecedents to unethical behaviors such as committing fraud or petty criminal activities in the workplace.

Neuroscience and Organizational Behavior

An interdisciplinary approach integrating neurological insights into workplace behaviors that provide enhanced understandings of all the above. What are the cognitive processes in organizational contexts and how do they drive worker behavior, conceptions of leadership and motivation, learning (and forgetting), and matters of character and ethics?

Related TAOP Episodes, Events, and Notes

3: Theory of Human Motivation – Abraham Maslow

We discuss “A Theory of Human Motivation” by Abraham H. Maslow, one of the most famous psychology articles ever written. Originally published in 1943, it was in this landmark paper that Maslow presented his first detailed representation of Self-Actualization – the desire to become everything that one is capable of becoming – at the pinnacle of a hierarchy of human needs. What Maslow is most famous for, however, is the pyramid of human needs.