A dependent relationship exists between organizations and people. The dependent relationship exists because the two dependent variables affect the other. In other words, one could not exist without the other. Organizations affect people's thoughts, feelings, and actions. On the other hand, people affect organizational operations, productivity, growth, and success. For example, a company that is moving jobs overseas may experience low employee morale, which results in low productivity. The affects of employee's morale could eventually lead to low profits for the company. The reverse is true when a company announces news that is favorable to the employees. Understanding the dependent relationship between organizations and people, groups, or structures is defined as organizational behavior. Organizational behavior is not limited to studying only the impact of the relationship. Organizational behavior further understands the impact of people and organizations to implement improvements for a more effective and efficient organization. .
Several social disciplines have had an impact on the birth of the field of organizational behavior. "The predominant areas are psychology, sociology, social psychology, anthropology, and political science- (Robbins 12). Psychology, the study of human behavior, influences includes work performance to recently job satisfaction and training. Sociology researched the origin, development, and evolution of people. Social psychology, a combination of psychology and sociology, studies "the influence of people on one another- (Robbins 13). Sociology, social psychology, and anthropology helped influence organizational behavior by understanding the values and behavior of people especially when an organization is changing. Lastly, political science includes conflict resolutions and distribution of power. .
The knowledge obtained from the social disciplines has evolved organizational behavior into a social science, a systematic study that accurately predicts behavior.