Explanation
Seek to answer why an individual or a group of individuals did some¬thing.
Explanation is the least important of the three goals, from a management perspective, because it occurs after the fact.
Prediction
The goal of prediction focuses on future events to determine what outcomes will result from a given action.
There are various ways to im¬plement a major change, so the manager is likely to assess employee responses to several change interventions. Such information can be used in making the decision as to which change effort to use.
Control
The most controversial goal is to control behavior because most of us live in democratic societies, which are built upon the concept of personal freedom.
OB does offer technologies that facilitate the control of people.
Whether those technologies should be used in organizations becomes an ethical question.
