Abstract
This book chapter delves deep into the realm of organizational behaviour through the lenses of neuroscience, aiming to shed light on the convoluted relationship between the brain, behaviour, and organizational dynamics. The integration of neuroscience and organizational behaviour offers profound insights into understanding the underlying mechanisms driving human behaviour at the workplace. The foundation lies in establishing an extensive understanding of neuroscience principles and their relevance in shaping the organizational behaviour. Central to this exploration are the key brain areas such as the prefrontal cortex, amygdala, and hippocampus, each playing a prominent role in influencing employee choices, emotional responses, memory, and decision-making processes within an organizational setting. Additionally, neurotransmitters like dopamine and serotonin are examined for their impact on motivation, reward-seeking behaviour, mood regulation, and social interactions in the workplace. Building upon these foundational concepts, the chapter investigates the benefits of integrating neuroscience into organizational behaviour research and practice. Notably, it addresses the importance of understanding unconscious biases and their implications on decision-making processes, aiming to foster fairer and more equitable organizational environments. Moreover, the study explores how insights from neuroscience can optimize employee well-being, engagement, and workplace satisfaction by identifying neural mechanisms associated with stress, burnout, and work-life balance.
TopIntroduction
The study of organizational behaviour is based on understanding of human actions within an organization. For more than a decade, there has been an overlap in studying the role of neuroscience with organizational behaviour. There has been a growing interest in the process of integrating neuroscience with organizational behaviour thereby offering new perception into how the brain influences behaviour in an organizational setting. On the other hand, neuroscience is the study of the brain, its structure, functions, and how it affects the human behaviour at large (Turner et al. 1999). Neuroscience also helps our understanding of how to repair the brain structures and also restore brain functions when they are impaired.
Neuroscience itself is an interdisciplinary approach emanating from biology, chemistry, mathematics, medicine, physics, and psychology. In the ever-evolving landscape of organizational behaviour, a relatively new and intriguing field has been gaining momentum - the neuroscience of organizational behaviour (Palmeri et al., 2017). This interdisciplinary field combines recognition from neuroscience, psychology, and management to shed light on how the human brain functions within the context of the workplace. By delving deeper into the intricacies of the brain, it is essential to unravel the underlying mechanisms that influence behaviour, decision-making, motivation, and performance in organizational settings.