The study of human relations looks closely at the way people behave, why people behave the way they do, or what makes them and the people around them tick. Behavior is what people do and say. Human relations fuel behavior. The three levels of behavior are individual, group, and organizational. Human relations take place at the individual, group, and organizational levels. It is individuals, not large organizations, that drive progress. Group behavior consists of the things two or more people do and say as they interact. Individual behavior influences group behavior.

An organization is a group of people working to achieve one or more objectives. Organizations are created to produce goods and services for the larger society. If you have ever worked, you have been a part of an organization. You also come into contact with organizations on a regular basis, such as when you go into a store, school, church, post office, or health club. As individuals and groups interact, their collective behavior constitutes the organization’s behavior. Thus, organizational behavior is the collective behavior of an organization’s individuals and groups.

Throughout this course you will learn how human relations affects individual and group behavior, and the resulting effects on organizational performance.
Performance is the extent to which expectations or objectives have been met. Performance levels are more meaningful when compared to past performance or the performance of others within and/or outside the organization.

A system is a set of two or more interactive elements. The systems approach focuses on the whole system with an emphasis on the relationships between its parts. For our purposes, the organization’s performance is based on the combined performance of each individual and group. To have high levels of performance, the organization must have high-performing individuals and groups. Groups are the building blocks of the organization.

The challenge to management is to develop high-performing individuals and groups. In a sense, individuals and groups are the foundation of an organization. If either is ineffective, the organization cannot stand. Just as people are the foundation of the organization, behavior and human relations are the foundation supporting performance.