Introduction
According to Aristotle, a Greek philosopher, human beings are ‘social animals’ and therefore people living in society are constantly interact with each other. On this view, the meaning of Organisational Behaviour (OB) can be simply explained that it is the study of the behaviour of people in dealing with an organisational setting. Analysing the Organisation Behaviour cannot be studied in isolation because it involves a number of simultaneous functions that relate to the total processes within an organisation. Therefore, it embraces an understanding of the behaviour of people, the process of management, organisational context and processes and interrelationships with external environment. With the rapid change of environment of business economy, some people argue that Organisational Behaviour needs to be far more practical for accessing business direction rather than abstract theoretical knowledge. In my opinion, Organisational Behaviour can be developed in far more effective way in business environment. This essay will present the various disciplines that relate to the Organisational Behaviour and state my opinion.
Disciplines of Organisational Behaviour (OB)
The study of OB can be divided in terms of three main disciplines, which are psychology, sociology and anthropology and also its related subdivisions such as economics and political science. They have been identified as having significant impact in OB’s development.
First, as Robbins (2007) defined psychology is the science that seeks to measure, explain, and sometimes change the behaviour of human and other animals. Psychologists concern such concept as perception and behaviour to explain human beings’ mental process and behaviour. For example the social psychology in one of areas within psychology focuses on the influence of people on one another. Many of theories dealing with motivation, learning, personality and stress have been applied in OB to understand work-related phenomena such as job satisfaction, leadership effectiveness and worker well-being.
Next, the sociology is the study of the connections which elaborate on between human beings as they form themselves and are affected by others in communities and how these patterns influence and are influenced by the actions and interactions of people (Watson, 2008). In addition, this is more concerned with social behaviour, relationships among socials groups and societies. Sociologists have made their greatest contribution to OB through their study of group behaviour in organisations, especially formal and complex organisations.
Third, the anthropology is more concerned with the study of mankind and societies to learn about human beings as a whole. Mullins (2008) stated that the main focus of attention is on the cultural system such as beliefs, customs and values within a society and the comparison of behaviour among different cultures. For example, in cross-cultural analysis anthropology’s contribution will certainly assist how to understand different organizational cultures and strength geographies and multiple diversity dimensions
Fourth, the economics is the science that analyzes the production, distribution and consumption of goods and services. Economists have explored how competition for limited resources both within and between organisations leads these organisations to increase their commitment to efficiency and productivity. Economics provides the knowledge and insights to understand the impact of developments in every aspect of human being’s lives because it makes us aware of which things are better off to exchange. These economic influences may also partially affect an organisation’s role in the economy. For example, as the economy grows the organisation will likely become not only larger but also more specialized.
Lastly, the political science is the study of the behaviour of individuals and groups within a political environment, which effectively helps to allocate power within a