Important aspects of Behavioural Sciences Movement | Management

The following are the important aspects of the behavioural science approach:

Behavioural Sciences School considers the behaviour of human beings as the focus of the management action. It does not view management strictly as a technical process. Based on its objectives and scientific research of individual behaviour and motivation, it established that the relationship between morale and productivity had been over simplified by human relationlists.

The behaviour science approach to management laid more stress on the application of the methods and findings of general social psychology and sociology for understanding the organisational behaviour. Behaviour Science Movement is regarded as a further refinement of human relations movement. It covered much wider aspects in interpersonal roles and relationships.

With its major emphasis on human relations, informal groups, communication, employee motivation and leadership styles, the behaviour approach to management has drawn attention to a wide range of socio-psychological phenomena like the dynamics of organisational behaviour, group dynamics, organisational conflict, change and techniques of organisational development.

This approach is, therefore, also known as “Human Relations Approach” or “Behavioural Science Approach.” As this approach views the manager as a “Leader” and treats ail “Lead” activities as managerial activities, it is also called as “Leadership Approach.”

(i) Employee Motivation:

This includes a determination of the factors that lead to high productivity and high morale (morale is the willingness of the members of a group to work enthusiastically as a team for the achievement of common objectives).

(ii) Organisation as a social system:

It includes studies of role, status symbol as well as the functions of informal groups.

(iii) Leadership:

This school also underlines the role of personal leadership in management. The scope of this school includes study of human relations and how the manager can grasp their implications, study of manager as a leader and the way he should lead and study of group dynamics and interpersonal relationship. It involves the study of successful and unsuccessful managerial behaviour.

(iv) Communication:

Communication plays a vital role in the human behaviour school. A better understanding develops between the management and workers, because of reduced channels of communication in an organisation.

(v) Employee Development:

It is concerned with the continued upgrading of employee skills and managerial skills. This New thinking in management started with the development of need hierarchy by Abraham Maslow in 1940, followed by the works of Frederick Herzberg, Douglas Mcgregor, Remis Likert and Chester Bernard.