Theories of Organizational Behavior

Abstract

Organizational behavior is "a field of study that investigates the impact that individuals, groups, and structure have on behavior within an organization, and then it applies that knowledge to make organizations work more effectively" (Robbins and Judge 2007: p. 34). The behavior is collectively influenced by the individual, the group, the organization, and the environment (Mullins 2007).From the perspective of organizational behavior, ERM can be considered as a process of organizational change from the traditional, silo-based risk management approach to a holistic and integrated risk management approach. This change should be led by an individual or a team (a change agent), which is supported by the board and senior management, through motivation, organizational learning, and creation of a risk-aware culture. This chapter reviews the literature on theories of organizational change, organizational learning, organizational culture, motivation, and leadership, under the umbrella of organizational behavior theories. In addition, factors that drive and resist organizational change are identified. Some sources of resistance to organizational change can be directly or indirectly linked to organizational learning, organizational culture, motivation, and leadership. Moreover, the relationships among these theories of organizational behavior are elaborated in this chapter.