How Organizational Behavior & Human Resource Management are related?

[Monirul Islam]

Organizational behavior is a term used to explain the concept of the behavior of individuals who constitute the human elements of an organization. This is related to human resources, which is a concept that is used to describe the management of the employees in any organization. From the description of the two terms, it is easy to see how organizational behavior (OB) and human resource management (HRM) are related. Organizational behavior looks at the individual behavior, and then moves to group behavior, progressively to the organization behavior, which we can also call the organization culture. It requires skills to understand how the organization and its members affect each other. Its areas include frameworks for diagnosing and resolving problems in organizational settings. Thereby we can say that organizational behavior (OB) is the study of individual and group dynamics within an organization setting whereas human behavior, call it individual behavior is a sub-set of organization behavior.

Human behavior is inherent in each individual which means his characteristics, his way of behaving and thinking are his own features while organizational behavior is a group or company culture unique of each own felt and done. The relationship between organizational behavior and human resource management stems from the fact that human resource management can be used as a tool for shaping organizational behavior.  The effective use of human resources can be used to shape the perceptions and behavior of the employees in an organization, resulting in a desired outcome in their organizational behavior. This link between organizational behavior and human resource management can be seen in the area of the workers' attitudes toward their jobs. Part of the responsibilities of the human resources department is managing the issues related to the welfare of the employees in an organization. When this responsibility is pursued diligently, the employees will have a more positive attitude toward their jobs and will be more willing to go the extra mile in furthering their duties.

img_6980Thus we can say that the field of organizational behavior and human resource management deals with the behavior of individuals and groups within organizations. They investigate the enhancement of the effectiveness of an organization's human capital in order to gain competitive advantage and achieve organizational goals. OB field include topics such as personality / dispositions, emotion and affect, motivation, social concept and identity, decision making and cognition, justice and trust, organization and work attachment, leadership, groups and teams, and organizational culture and climate whereas HR encompass topics such as job analysis, recruitment, selection, training and development, performance appraisal, compensation, quality of work life, workforce diversity, and strategic human resource management. Students seeking managerial careers in any business function can valuably learn about leadership, motivation, morale, performance, teams, organizational culture and organizational design by opting organizational behavior course, whereas those interested in making their career as human resource management specialists and managers can gain technical knowledge about selection, performance appraisal, training, compensation, workforce diversity, work and family programs, and strategic human resource management.

Source: Asia-Pacific Institute of Management, New Delhi, Website