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Organizational behavior
Organizational behavior is a field of study that investigates the impact that individuals, groups and structures have on behavior within an organization for the purpose of applying such knowledge towards improving an organization's effectiveness.[1] It is an interdisciplinary field that includes sociology, psychology, communication, and management; and it complements the academic studies of organizational theory (which is focused on organizational and intra-organizational topics) and human resource studies (which is more applied and business-oriented). It may also be referred to as organizational studies or organizational science. The field has its roots in industrial and organizational psychology.

Organization
An organization (or organisation) is a social entity that has a collective goal and is linked to an external environment. The word is derived from the Greek word organon, itself derived from the better-known word ergon which means "organ" a compartment for a particular task.

Challenges to organizational Behaviour

Organizational behavior is the culture of the organization, which includes how the employees interact with one another. It also involves how the employees feel about the company itself.

The challenges of organizational behavior that most companies face include overcoming cultural and ethnic differences, improving productivity, hiring employees that fit into the organizational culture or who can improve it, and helping employees to find proper level of a work-life balance. One of the primary challenges of organizational behavior is overcoming ethnic and cultural diversity among employees. Because different employees have different beliefs, opinions and ways of working, it can be challenging for employees to work together because of these differences. Some organizations choose to offer diversity training courses or workshops to help overcome these issues. The point is to illuminate how the diversity of an organization actually makes it better for the different benefits that each of the employees bring to the table. Another of the challenges of organizational behavior is finding ways to motivate employees as a way to improve activity. Some of the ways organizations improve productivity within the organization is to empower the employees. When organizations and businesses empower its employees, it gives them a sense of loyalty to the company because they feel like they are part of the success of the business. A third of the challenges of organizational behavior is hiring the right employees for the company. Hiring the right employees

for the organization is not only about finding the people with the skills and knowledge that the position requires, but also employees that fit into the organizational culture or can help to improve employee relations. Another of the main challenges of organizational behavior is how to run a productive company, but also show its employees that it cares about them as well. In other words, it is about helping employees find the right work-life balance. For example, a company that provides an on-site daycare center as an employee benefit or at a reduced cost is one way for the company to show that it cares about its employees both professionally and personally. This can lead to the employees contributing to organizational behavior and culture in a positive manner.

Importance of Organizational Behavior

Organizations are involved in every facet of our lives. Everyone whether they like it or not are members of multiple organizations. Personally to argue that the study of organizational behavior or to propose any negative response to a structure that is closely involved with our lives is moot. The reality is that organizations organize our lives. Our schedules are almost entirely set by organizations.

What happens in the economy and in the courts and in technology (all elements of the environment of organizations) affects all of our lives profoundly. The reason most organizations do things the way they do is largely a function of what they can make money doing, what is legal, and what technology permits. Organizations have a tremendous impact on our professional lives and organizational structure. Prestige in industrialized nations is determined by occupation, and by rank within the organization we work for. So bankers (an occupation) have a certain status in society, and bankers who are senior vicepresidents (a high rank) are particularly blessed. Most people's income is derived from their jobs in organizations, so organizations also largely determine the amount of money that individuals have. Organizations wield considerably more power than individuals do, so the individuals who control organizations also have considerable power. The discipline of Organizational Behavior encompasses three broad areas: 1. The Behavior of People in Organizations OB draws on psychology, anthropology and sociology to gain insight into the behavior of individuals in organizational settings. Topics studied include:

perception, cognition, learning personality and motivation leadership, power, conformity, communication decision making 2. Organizational Structure Organizations consist of people organized to achieve organizational goals (like manufacture computers). One of the most important strategic elements.

Attitude
A predisposition or a tendency to respond positively or negatively towards a certain idea, object, person, or situation. Attitude influences an individual's choice of action, and responses to challenges, incentives, and rewards (together called stimuli). Four major components of attitude are (1) Affective: emotions or feelings. (2) Cognitive: belief or opinions held consciously. (3) Conative: inclination for action. (4) Evaluative: positive or negative response to stimuli.

Behaviour
Behavior or behaviour is the range of actions and mannerisms made by organisms, systems, or artificial entities in conjunction

with their environment, which includes the other systems or organisms around as well as the physical environment. It is the response of the system or organism to various stimuli or inputs, whether internal or external, conscious or subconscious, overt or covert, and voluntary or involuntary.

Components of attitude
Attitudes are evaluative statement favorable or unfavorable related to person, object or event. They reflect that how one feel about something. For example if someone says that I like my job. This statement expresses his attitude towards his job. Each and every person has different attitude at different conditions.

There are three components of attitude.

1: Cognitive component: It refers that's part of attitude which is related in general know how of a person, for example, he says smoking is injurious to health. Such type of idea of a person is called cognitive component of attitude. 2: Effective component: This part of attitude is related to the statement which affects another person. For example, in an organization a personal report is given to the general manager. In report he point out

that the sale staff is not performing their due responsibilities. The general manager forwards a written notice to the marketing manager to negotiate with the sale staff. 3: Behavioral Component: The behavioral component refers to that part of attitude which reflects the intension of a person in short run or in long run. For example, before the production and launching process the product. Report is prepared by the production department which consists of there intention in near future and long run and this report is handed over to top management for the decision. Attitude and behavior are two quite different things. Attitude is a person's inner thoughts and feelings, while behavior is usually an outward expression of attitude, but the two are not always related. For instance, psychopaths are people whose attitudes are composed of low morality. However, this does not mean that they always commit immoral acts. Psychopaths are usually intelligent, so they know that even though there will be no moral consequences for them, there will still be legal consequences to deal with. This knowledge, in addition to their attitude, governs their behavior.

When a person's attitude and behavior differ, dissonance will likely result, and a change in attitude or behavior will be the probable outcome.

Types of Attitude
Respectfulness Respect is a very important attitude in the workplace and doesn't solely extend to the way in which employees interact with management. Employees should also have a respectful attitude when interacting with clients and customers as well as co-workers. Employees with this type of attitude are willing to treat other people politely and professionally, even if they disagree with the other person's point of view. Pridefulness It might seem as if being prideful is a good attitude to have in the workplace, but most employees who have a prideful attitude about their work tend to work harder to excel. A prideful attitude doesn't mean that an employee won't accept help or work in teams; it simply means that the outcomes of tasks the employee does and how they contribute to the company matter a great deal to him.

Committment A committed attitude is a valued one in the workplace. Small businesses need employees who are not only committed to the goals and initiatives that affect the bottom line, but who also are committed to their particular positions. Employees project a committed attitude by showing a willingness to do whatever it takes to fulfill the duties of their positions and via the development of new ideas to make the company even better. Innovation Employees with an innovative attitude don't shy away from trying something new or finding a different way to do things. Small businesses need employees who can think outside of the box and innovate new ways to accomplish existing tasks and approach goals. Employees with this type of attitude know their ideas might not work out to be the best way to do something, but that the biggest failure is not at least giving new ideas a shot. Helpfulness It is important to have a helpful attitude at work, whether that means assisting clients and customers with their needs or helping co-workers accomplish overall company goals. The more helpful an attitude employees have, the more people

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want to be around them at work and the more willing they are to partner with those employees on key projects and initiatives.

Formal and informal organization

Formal Organisation is formed when two or more persons come together. They have a common objective or goal. They are willing to work together to achieve this similar objective.

Formal Organisation has its own rules and regulation.

These rules must be followed by the members (employees and managers). A formal organisation has a system of coordination. It also has a system of authority. It has a clear superior-subordinate relationship. In a formal organisation, the objectives are specific and well-defined. All the members are given specific duties and responsibilities. Examples of formal organisation are:- a company, a school, a college, a bank, etc.

Informal Organisation exists within the formal

organisation. An informal organisation is a network of personal and social relationships. People working in a formal organisation meet and interact regularly. They work, travel, and eat together. Therefore, they become good friends and companions. There are many groups of friends in a formal organisation. These groups are called informal organisation.

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An informal organisation does not have its own rules and regulation. It has no system of co-ordination and authority. It doesn't have any superior-subordinate relationship nor any specific and well-defined objectives. Here in informal organisation, communication is done through the grapevine.

Perception
Perception (from the Latin perceptio, percipio) is the organization, identification, and interpretation of sensory information in order to represent and understand the environment.[1] All perception involves signals in the nervous system, which in turn result from physical stimulation of the sense organs.[2] For example, vision involves light striking the retinas of the eyes, smell is mediated by odor molecules and hearing involves pressure waves. Perception is not the passive receipt of these signals, but can be shaped by learning, memory, and expectation.[3][4] Perception involves these "topdown" effects as well as the "bottom-up" process of processing sensory input.[4] The "bottom-up" processing is basically lowlevel information that's used to build up higher-level information (e.g., shapes for object recognition). The "topdown" processing refers to a person's concept and expectations (knowledge) that influence perception. Perception depends on complex functions of the nervous system, but subjectively

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seems mostly effortless because this processing happens outside conscious awareness

The Behaviourist Approach to Learning

For behaviourists, learning is essentially about a change in people's behaviour in a desired direction. The inner experience of the learner is of secondary importance as this cannot be observed or properly studied. Of primary significance are the observable, measurable changes in people's behaviour that result from learning. Given that behaviourists are not that interested in the internal process of learning, the locus or focus on learning is the environment. It is the environment which is seen as shaping people's behaviour. What is learnt is determined by the elements in the environment, not by the individual learner. Stimulus from the environment and reinforcement are important processes seen to explain the learning process i.e. reinforce what you want people to do (and 'practice makes perfect'), ignore or punish people to stop them behaving/learning in a certain way. Mark Smith summarises the four key principles within a behaviourist approach to learning; Activity is important - learning is better when the learner is active rather than passive. 'Learning by doing' is important.

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Repetition, generalisation and discrimination are important features of this approach to learning. Frequent practice - and of practice in different contexts - is necessary for learning to take place. Skills are not acquired without frequent practice. Reinforcement is the most important motivator. Positive reinforcements like rewards and successes are preferable to negative events like punishments and failures. Learning is helped when objectives are clear. Those who follow a behaviourist approach to learning will frame their learning activities by (usually), measurable and observable behavioural objectives A behavioural approach to learning is probably the most persuasive model used today in what is commonly understood as 'education', 'training' and 'learning'. The push for 'evidencebased' outcomes in teaching or 'demonstrable abilities' to do something (for example, in the workplace or in a family when bringing up children) are all views heavily influenced by behaviourist thinking and assumptions.

Cognitive Approach (Psychology)

The Cognitive Approach in psychology is a relatively modern approach to human behaviour that focuses on how we think, with the belief that such thought processes affect the way in which we behave (other approaches take other factors into

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account, such as the biological approach, which acknowledges the influences of genetics and chemical imbalances on our behaviour).

Personality
Personality is the particular combination of emotional, attitudinal, and behavioral response patterns of an individual. Different personality theorists present their own definitions of the word based on their theoretical positions.[1] Psychologists such as Freud, and Erik Erikson have attempted to come up with personality theories

Psychology Personality
Personality in psychology refers to the organised pattern of behavioural characteristics that are the working result of the distinguishing physical, mental, emotional and social features of an individual person. Some ideas in the psychological and scientific study of personality include: Personality channcept that personality is affected by various Personality disorder Personality genetics, a scientific field that examines the relation between personality and gencles of maladaptive behavior, and emotional instability under stress

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Personality psychology, the theory and study of individual differences, traits, and tycale, or True/False) intended to describe aspec Personality style Personality systematics, among subsystems of personality as they are embedded in the entire ecological system Personality test, examples would include the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI-2), Rorschach Inkblot Test, and Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) Personality type, refers to patterns of relatively enduring characteristics of behavior that occur with sufficient frequency Personality trait, refers to enduring personal characteristics that are revealed in a particular pattern of behaviour in a variety of situation

What are the major determinants of personality?

Biological Factors

Heredity:
It refers to physical stature, facial attractiveness, sex, temperament, muscle composition and reflexes, energy level, and biological rhythms are characteristics that are

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considered to be inherent. It plays an important part in determining an individual's personality. Heredity approach argues that the ultimate explanation of an individual's personality is the molecular structures of the genes, which are located in the chromosomes. Recent research studies shows that young children lend strong support to the power of heredity and finding shows that some personality traits may be built into the same genetic code that affects factors like height and hair color.

Brain:
Brain is the second biological approach to determine personality. It plays an important role in determining personality. Electrical Stimulation of the Brain (ESB) and Split brain psychology results indicates that a better understanding of human personality and behavior might come from a

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closer study of the brain. The definite areas of the human brain are associated with pain and pleasure. Research study shows that these things are true.

Biofeedback:
It is third biological approach to determine personality. Physiologists and psychologists felt that biological functions like brainwave patterns, gastric and hormonal secretions, and fluctuations in blood pressure and skin temperature were beyond conscious control. Recent research shows that these functions can be consciously controlled through biofeedback techniques. For this purpose, individual can learns the internal rhythms of a particular body process through electronic signals that are feedback from equipment which is wired to body.

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In this process, the person can learn to control the body process through questions. It is one of the interesting topics to do future research work in personality. Physical Features: It is third biological approach to determine personality. It is vital ingredient of the personality, it focus an individual person's external appearance which also determined the personality. Physical features like tall or short, fat or skinny, black or white. These physical features will be influenced the personal effect on others and also affect self concept of individual. Recent research studies shows that definitely this features influence to individual personality in an organization. In totally, heredity would be fixed at birth and no amount of experience can be altering them through creation of suitable environment. Apart from this, personality characteristics

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are not completely dictated by heredity. There are other factors also influenced to determining personality.

Cultural Factors
"Each culture expects, and trains, its members to behave in ways that are acceptable to the group. To a marked degree, the child's cultural group defines the range of experiences and situations he is likely to encounter and the values and personality characteristics that will reinforced and hence learned". -Paul H Mussen Cultural factors are also major factors which influence to determine individual personality. It refers to traditional practice, customs, procedure, norms and rules and regulation followed by the society. It significantly influence to individual behavior compare to biological factors. Cultural factors determine attitudes towards independence, aggression, competition,

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cooperation, positive thinking, team spirit, and a host of the human being and discharge his/her duties towards valuable responsibilities to society. Western culture influence to Indian society. It is best example of the cultural factors also determine the personality.

Family Factors
Family factors are also major factors which influence to determine individual personality. Family consists of husband and wife and their children's. Family role is very important for nurturing and personality development of their children. Family will be guided, supervised, take care of all family members, cooperation, 52 Organizational Behavior coordination and cooperation in work and also explained the role and responsibilities

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towards the family, society and real life. Family either directly or indirectly influence to person for development of individual personality.

Social Factors
Social factors are also major factors which influence to determine individual personality. It involves the reorganization of individual's in an organization or society. It refers to acquiring of wide range of personality by acquiring and absorbed by themselves in the society or an organization. Socialization process is starting from home and extending to work environment in an organization or society. It focuses on good relationships, cooperation, coordination and interaction among the members in the society or an organization or a family.

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In totally, environment factors consist of cultural factors, family factors, and social factors.

Situational Factors
Situational factors also influence to determine of personality. Situational factors are very important to change the individual behavior in a different circumstance at different situations, it also influence to personality of individual person. In general term, personality is stable and consistent and it does change in different situations. The Interaction of Personality and Situational Factors are outlined: Strong situational pressures Personality may not predict behavior Example: enforcement of rules Weak Situational pressures Personality may predict behavior

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Example: Customer sales representative A strong situation can overwhelm the effects of individual personalities by providing strong cues for appropriate behavior.

Leadership
Leadership has been described as a process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task",[1] although there are also other in-depth definitions of leadership. Leadership is "organizing a group of people to achieve a common goal". The leader may or may not have any formal authority. Studies of leadership have produced theories involving traits,[2] situational interaction, function, behavior, power, vision and values,[3] charisma, and intelligence, among others. Somebody whom people follow: somebody who guides or directs others.

Trait Theory of Leadership

The trait model of leadership is based on the characteristics of many leaders - both successful and unsuccessful - and is used to predict leadership effectiveness. The resulting lists of traits are then compared to those of potential leaders to assess their likelihood of success or failure.

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Scholars taking the trait approach attempted to identify physiological (appearance, height, and weight), demographic (age, education and socioeconomic background), personality, self-confidence, and aggressiveness), intellective (intelligence, decisiveness, judgment, and knowledge), task-related (achievement drive, initiative, and persistence), and social characteristics (sociability and cooperativeness) with leader emergence and leader effectiveness. Successful leaders definitely have interests, abilities, and personality traits that are different from those of the less effective leaders. Through many researches conducted in the last three decades of the 20th century, a set of core traits of successful leaders have been identified. These traits are not responsible solely to identify whether a person will be a successful leader or not, but they are essentially seen as preconditions that endow people with leadership potential.

Among the core traits identified are:

Achievement drive: High level of effort, high levels of ambition, energy and initiative Leadership motivation: an intense desire to lead others to reach shared goals Honesty and integrity: trustworthy, reliable, and open

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Self-confidence: Belief in ones self, ideas, and ability Cognitive ability: Capable of exercising good judgment, strong analytical abilities, and conceptually skilled Knowledge of business: Knowledge of industry and other technical matters Emotional Maturity: well adjusted, does not suffer from severe psychological disorders. Others: charisma, creativity and flexibility

Strengths/Advantages of Trait Theory

It is naturally pleasing theory. It is valid as lot of research has validated the foundation and basis of the theory. It serves as a yardstick against which the leadership traits of an individual can be assessed. It gives a detailed knowledge and understanding of the leader element in the leadership process.

Limitations of The Trait Theory

There is bound to be some subjective judgment in determining who is regarded as a good or successful leader The list of possible traits tends to be very long. More than 100 different traits of successful leaders in various

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leadership positions have been identified. These descriptions are simply generalities. There is also a disagreement over which traits are the most important for an effective leader The model attempts to relate physical traits such as, height and weight, to effective leadership. Most of these factors relate to situational factors. For example, a minimum weight and height might be necessary to perform the tasks efficiently in a military leadership position. In business organizations, these are not the requirements to be an effective leader. The theory is very complex

Implications of Trait Theory

The trait theory gives constructive information about leadership. It can be applied by people at all levels in all types of organizations. Managers can utilize the information from the theory to evaluate their position in the organization and to assess how their position can be made stronger in the organization. They can get an in-depth understanding of their identity and the way they will affect others in the organization. This theory makes the manager aware of their strengths and weaknesses and thus they get an understanding of how they can develop their leadership qualities.

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Socialization
Socialization (or socialisation) is a term used by sociologists, social psychologists, anthropologists, political scientists and educationalists to refer to the lifelong process of inheriting and disseminating norms, customs and ideologies, providing an individual with the skills and habits necessary for participating within his or her own society. Socialization is thus the means by which social and cultural continuity are attained.[1][2] Socialization describes a process which may lead to desirable, or 'moral', outcomes in the opinion of said society. Individual views on certain issues, such as race or economics, are influenced by the view of the society at large and become a "normal," and acceptable outlook or value to have within a society. Many socio-political theories postulate that socialization provides only a partial explanation for human beliefs and behaviors, maintaining that agents are not 'blank slates' predetermined by their environment.[3] Scientific research provides some evidence that people might be shaped by both social influences and genes.[4][5][6][7] Genetic studies have shown that a person's environment interacts with his or her genotype to influence behavioral outcomes

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The Importance of Socialization

Socialization is the process a child goes through while growing up; they learn and develop by following in the footsteps of their family, peers, teachers, and the media. Along the way they develop a sense of self and become their own person. This is also known as internalization, the process in which people take as their own and accept the norms, values, beliefs, and language that their peers are attempting to pass on. Family, school, peers and mass media are all major agents of a childs socialization. Without interacting with these agents, a child can suffer in many ways. Extreme isolation can effect a childs emotional, mental, and physical development. While if a child experiences nature, nurture, and gets to watch television and interacts with people, the child will be able to develop as a person and learn and have normal social graces. Family is a social group with face-to-face contact and strong emotional ties. To develop normally, children need close contact and stimulation from others. Adequate stimulation comes from a strong relationship with a caring adult. For a child to have this bond to help develop, there must be at least one person who knows the child well enough to understand his or her needs and feelings who will act to satisfy them. For example, children go to adults with their questions and needs, adults respond by offering explanations, expressing concern, or

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no concern. This is one kind of socialization. The family is an important agent of socialization because it gives individuals their deepest and earliest experiences with relationships and their first exposure to the rules of life. In addition, the family teaches its members about the social and physical environment and pays to respond to that environment. Mead assumed that the self develops through interaction with others. For example, playing and interacting with other children. When children play games they learn how to behave and how to follow established rules.

Agencies of Socialization
Socialisation is a process whereby individuals are made aware of behaviors that are expected of them with regards to the norms, beliefs attitudes and values of the society inwhich they live. Socialisation helps the individual to face realities of life, as a result of appreciate his culture practices. The Agencies of Socialisation are the social institutions that form part of the passing on to the people the norms, values, beliefs and attitudes.There are several agencies of socialisation which are developemantal, Anticipatory,Resocialisation,Reverse, Primary and Secondary socialisation.

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However, the main agencies are the Primary Socialisation which is a process where people learn attitudes, values and action appropriate to individual as members of a particular culture. Also is Secondary Socialisation, this is a process where individuals learn appropriate behaviors as members of a smaller group within the larger society. Under the Primary agencies is the family, peer groups, opinion leaders. The family being the intergral part of every individual upbringing is one of the most important agencies of socialisation. the family has the power to influence individual sel-concept , emotions , attitude and behavior. With the peer groups, they are made of up people with similar age group and status in society. the group also set norms and valies by which the individual must abide. Under the secondary socialisation, is the work environment, Education, mass media and Religion. The mass media which serve as a medium of communication is one of the agencies of socialisation. through the mass mediam, individual are abel to learn and adopted new of lifestyle and behavior which at the end becomes a convention in the society. Example is Fashion.

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Religion is a major agency of socialisation because it embodies the moral principle in society. in this respect, religion has its own set of norms, values and objectives that regulate the conduct of its members.

Organizational culture
Organizational culture refers to a system of shared meaning held by members that distinguishes the organization from other organizations (Robbins & Judge, 2013). Organizational culture is the behavior of humans who are part of an organization and the meanings that the people attach to their actions. Culture includes the organization values, visions, norms, working language, systems, symbols, beliefs and habits. It is also the pattern of such collective behaviors and assumptions that are taught to new organizational members as a way of perceiving, and even thinking and feeling. Organizational culture affects the way people and groups interact with each other, with clients, and with stakeholders.

Organizational structure
An organizational structure consists of activities such as task allocation, coordination and supervision, which are directed towards the achievement of organizational aims.[1] It can also be considered as the viewing glass or perspective through which individuals see their organization and its environment.[2]

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Organizations are a variant of clustered entities.[citation needed] An organization can be structured in many different ways, depending on their objectives. The structure of an organization will determine the modes in which it operates and performs. Organizational structure allows the expressed allocation of responsibilities for different functions and processes to different entities such as the branch, department, workgroup and individual. Organizational structure affects organizational action in two big ways. First, it provides the foundation on which standard operating procedures and routines rest. Second, it determines which individuals get to participate in which decision-making processes, and thus to what extent their views shape the organizations actions

Formal Group: A formal group is the deliberate and

systematic grouping of people in an organization so that organizational goals are better achieved. Now any organization would have a certain formula. They are very essential for the efficient functioning of the organization.

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What does an organization do? The total no. of people working in an organization is divided into smaller groups (teams or sections or departments) and each group is responsible for fulfilling a task which would ultimately contribute to fulfilling the organizations goal. This increases the efficiency of the organization. Ex: If we take NITK as an example, we all know that we have a larger goal of training students for the engineering profession. But within this larger goal, we want students to be trained for computer engg, electrical, mech, etc. So this larger goal is divided into departments (example computer department), which is a formal group in this larger organization. So, all the departments together achieve the goal of efficiently training the students for engineering purpose.

Informal Group: Informal groups are the natural and

spontaneous grouping of people whenever they work together over a period of time. Whenever people interact and work together over a certain period of time, its very natural for them and it comes very spontaneously for them, that they form informal groups.

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Work Group behaviour

Group behaviour (or group behavior) in sociology refers to the situations where people interact in large or small groups. The field of group dynamics deals with small groups that may reach consensus and act in a coordinated way. Groups of a large number of people in a given area may act simultaneously to achieve a goal that differs from what individuals would do acting alone (herd behaviour). A large group (a crowd or mob) is likely to show examples of group behaviour when people gathered in a given place and time act in a similar wayfor example, joining a protest or march, participating in a fight or acting patriotically. Special forms of large group behaviour are: crowd "hysteria" spectators - when a group of people gathered together on purpose to participate in an event like theatre play, cinema movie, football match, a concert, etc. public - exception to the rule that the group must occupy the same physical place. People watching same channel on television may react in the same way, as they are occupying the same type of place - in front of television - although they may physically be doing this all over the world.

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Group behaviour differs from mass actions, which refers to people who behave similarly on a more global scale (for example, shoppers in different shops), while group behaviour refers usually to people in one place. If the group behaviour is coordinated, then it is called group action. Swarm intelligence is a special case of group behaviour where group members interact to fulfill a specific task. This type of group dynamics has received much attention by the soft computing community in the form of the particle swarm optimization family of algorithms.