or in collaboration with technology. Therefore,
the management of organizational behavior is
central to the management task—a task that in*
volves the capacity to understand the behavior
partems of individuals, groups, and organiza*
tions, to predict what behavioral responses will be
elicited by various managerial actions, and finally
to use this understanding and these predictions
to achieve control.
How can one achieve understanding and leam
how to predict and control organizational behav
ior? Given its inherent complexity and enigmatic
nature, one needs tools to unravel the mysteries,
paradoxes, and apparent contradictions that pre
sent themselves in the everyday life of organiza
tions. One tool is conceptual framework or
model. model is theory that indicates which
factors (in an organization, for example) are most
critical or important. It also shows how these fac
tors are related—that is, which factors or com
bination of factors cause other factors to change.
In sense then, model is roadmap that can
be used to make sense of the terrain of organiza
tional behavior.