Organizational Behavior
Organizational behavior is “the study of individuals and their behavior within the context of the organization in a workplace setting.” Understanding how people function best in this setting is crucial to creating and maintaining a successful, financially viable business, and an organizational behaviorist helps foster a healthy, comfortable place of business for its employees.
Organizational behaviorists are well versed in psychology, sociology, management, political science, and communication, and know how to facilitate positive interactions between members of an organization in order to achieve a commonly held set of goals. They learn how to apply theory to practical settings to create environments conducive to success and achievement. Organizational behavior focuses on issues including diversity, ethics and morality, empowerment, job satisfaction, worker productivity, competition, absenteeism, efficiency, attitude formation, work culture, power, group dynamics, and decision making.
Courses on an organizational behavior degree curriculum typically include both business and human relations subjects, such as:
- Organizational Ecology
- Social Norms
- Organizational Communication
- Statistical Methods for Behavioral Sciences
- Group Process and Decision Making
- Social Dynamics
- Organizational Leadership
- Social and Political Process
- Human Capital Investments
- Social Psychology of Organizations
- Power and Influence
- Commerce and Society
Individuals with a degree in organizational behavior most often work as consultants, either for themselves, or for a consulting firm. They can also work within human resources in management positions, helping businesses run smoothly and efficiently.
Skills: People who are successful in this role are usually comfortable in leadership positions and accustomed to speaking one-on-one, in groups, and in front of an audience. They need to be well organized, good at planning, and excellent listeners and communicators. Because they usually are not supervised, they also need to be well disciplined and good at time management.
Careers: After obtaining their degree, organizational behaviorists can apply their knowledge to a career as a labor relations specialist, human resources manager, management consultant, office manager, or analyst. Sometimes people with this degree go into academia and teach as professors. Most often, though, they go into management positions in offices, from companies with just a dozen employees to those with hundreds or even thousands.
Salary: People in these positions tend to be paid quite well for their expertise. For instance, in 2008, a training and development manager made an average of $87,700, and a human resources manager's median salary was $96,130.
Article Resources:
Cornell University
Harvard University
Memorial University
Organizational Behavior Management Network
Stanford University
University of North Texas, Dallas
University of San Francisco
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics