How are the early management theories related with organizational behavior?
Organizational behavior may have come to be recognized as a field of its own quite late.
However, its roots can be traced back to the time of the industrial revolution when several management theories came into being.
At the time of the industrial revolution, management styles inside companies had started changing with the hope that it will increase organizational productivity.
However, at the same time overall culture and behavior inside organizations had also started changing due to its heavy influence on productivity.
The industrial revolution had brought business growth at an enormous rate which had forced companies to change their structure, workflow, policies and management styles.
Taylor’s scientific management theory was among the earliest to have influenced the foundation of organizational behavior.
His focus was mainly on productivity.
Taylor’s theory focused on establishing ways that could help to complete each task in the most efficient manner.
On the one hand, this theory affected the productivity of the organizations, on the other it also affected the professional and personal dynamic between the managers and employees.
Soon after the human relations management theory was introduced, it challenged the classical management approach and further strengthened the foundation of organizational behavior.
Organizational behavior basically studies how individual behavior affects an organization and its productivity.
Organizational behavior takes a more psychological approach to understand the influence of members’ behavior on the organization.
Today, while organizational behavior has grown into a niche, it was not recognized as a field of study until the 1970s.
The human relations management theory, which was born as a response to the scientific management theory helped expand the foundation of organizational behavior.
The scientific management theory lacked a key component, which was human relations.
In the Hawthorne studies, it was highlighted that human relations and interactions had a solid impact on employees’ productivity.
The studies established a clear relationship between productivity and the people responsible for it.
They showed that if the companies wanted to increase their employees productivity and reduce the turnover rate, they should take keen interest in their employees and their professional development.
Apart from having proved that people performed better when provided attention, it also showed how team work encouraged people to do more.
The studies proved that individual satisfaction and group dynamics held equal importance in terms of organizational productivity.
Once this had come to light, people had started studying organizational behavior at all the three levels including individual, group and the organizational level.
Another major theory that had a significant impact on the development of organizational behavior was the X and Y Theory by McGregor.
The theory had two parts – one that dealt with the first category of managers, the X category and the other that dealt with another category of managers called the Y category.
While the first category of managers or the X category believed people were inherently not motivated to work and needed to be forced to perform, the Y managers thought differently.
The Y Category of managers believed that people were motivated to work and provided the right environment and encouragement could perform well.
They also argued in the favor of team dynamics.
Organizational behavior developed into a separate field since the 1970s and has expanded a lot since then.
Now it covers a wide range of topics related to individual and group relations inside the organizations.