A Social Learning Approach to Organizational Behavior

After first reviewing the existing theoretical frameworks for human behavior, we present a social learning theory approach that incorporates the interactive nature of all the variables of organizational behavior -the behavior itself, the environment, and the person (internal cognitions).We differentiate social learning theory from operant theory, highlighting the processes of modeling, cognitions, and self-control.We suggest selfmanagement techniques as a way to apply the social learning framework in order to enhance managerial effectiveness.Just as the management field in general has been depicted as a theory jungle Koontz, 1961[Koontz, , 1980;;Luthans, 1973, the emerging field of organizational behavior has seemed to reach the same point.There is today a jungle of theories that attempt to explain human behavior in organizations.Unfortunately, many of the theoretical explanations have seemed to stray from behavior as the unit of analysis in organizational behavior.There is a widespread tendency for both scholars and practitioners to treat such hypothetical constructs as motivation, satisfaction, and leadership as ends in themselves.We think it is time to re-emphasize the point that behaviors are the empirical reality, not the labels attached to the attempted explanations of the behaviors.If behavior is given its rightful place as the focus of attention in the theoretical development of organizational behavior, three major approaches can be readily identified.Briefly summarized, they are:1. B = f(P).According to this theoretical position, behavior is explained as a function of the person.In particular, internal psychological constructs such as motivation, perception, attitudes,