What is Organization Behavior?

I just got back from my job training. Out of no where I was thinking about what Organization Behaviour is about? So, I went online and search "what is organization behaviour in psychological term?" and this is what I've found...

This is some questions being answered by 3 Experts as follows,

• Dr. John Austin - Associate Professor of Psychology at Western Michigan University and member of I/O program.
• Dr. Dale Brethower - Professor Emeritus of Psychology at Western Michigan University.
• Dr. Alyce Dickinson - Professor of Psychology at Western Michigan University and chair of the I/O psychology program.

What is Organization Behaviour Management?

What Exactly does and OBM psychologist do?

Dr. Dickinson: An OBM psychologist can become involved in improving/maintaining any aspect of individual or organizational performance. In general, the areas include training, performance, management, (which may include improving performance quantity, quality, customer satisfaction, and/or safety), and systems analysis (increasing the efficiency of the way in which work gets done in the organization, altering what individuals do in their jobs, developing measurement systems for various units in the organization, and assisting organizations at the top level to determine measurable goals for its overall performance).

What are the basic areas in OBM?

Dr. Austin: The focus is on the problems, not like I/O where there are different areas. Some of the problems that OBM focuses on are safety, productivity, quality, and timeliness.

Dr. Dickinson: The areas include training, performance, management, (which may include improving performance quantity, quality, customer satisfaction, and/or safety), and systems analysis (increasing the efficiency of the way in which work gets done in the organization, altering what individuals do in their jobs, developing measurement systems for various units in the organization, and assisting organizations at the top level to determine measurable goals for its overall performance).

What is the difference between I/O (Industrial/Organizational Psychology) and OBM?

Dr. Brethower: I/O is an established field within psychology, traditional in approach, does lots of correlational type work, "owns" selection & placement and performance appraisal-which they've started calling "performance management" but don't be fooled. I have a colleague who earned his Ph.D. in I/O and went about establishing a consulting practice; he had to learn OBM to add value. OBM is known as that in ABA (Association for Behavior Analysis) circles and is known as HPT (Human Performance Technology) in ISPI (International Society for Performance Improvement) circles. It is a field created in the past 40 years by folks who were, primarily, behavior analysts.

Dr. Dickinson: If you would like more information about the difference between OBM and I/O, I suggest you read an article that was written by a number of us here at Western (one of my former Ph.D. students is the first author) : Bucklin, B.R., Alvero, A. M., Dickinson, A. M., Austin, J., Jackson, A. K. (2000). Industrial-organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior Management: An Objective Comparison. Journal of Organizational Behavior Management, 20 (2), 27-75.

Is there a difference between OBM in the business department and OBM in the psychology department?

Dr. Dickinson: Yes. If you are asking about our business department, there is not really any OBM, per se. Organizational Behavior Management refers, specifically, to the application of behavioral principles in business and industry - it is not a general term for performance management or organizational behavior. Our business college, while offering courses in performance management, organizational behavior and systems analysis, does not approach the topic from a behavioral perspective. It would be quite difficult for me to explain the differences; I recommend that students read chapters from a nonbehavioral performance management text, industrial/organizational psychology text, or organizational behavior text, similar to the Muchinksy text I use in PSY 645. If you turn to the chapter on motivation, there are five different motivational theories presented, and all are different than the motivational theories presented in the leadership chapter. Because the theories differ so much, the approach to behavior and organizational performance differs considerably from the approach we use in behavioral psychology.