The Value of Organizational Behavior in Theory and Practice
As early as the late 1960s, organizational and management theorists argued convincingly that a body of theory and related practice known under the general rubric of ôorganizational behaviorö offered managers, their organizations, and workers at all levels and in virtually all fields of endeavor a highly effective, cost-efficient, empowering, and motivating system of ôbest practicesö that could increase a firmÆs productivity while enhancing employee morale and commitment (Hampton, Summer, and Weber, pp. 63 û 65). The essential principles of the approach include: recognizing the importance of motivation and its effects on workers; understanding organizational culture and the ways in which it permeates the work environment; using two-way communication to inform, motivate, and empower workers; and developing the skills, competencies, behaviors and attitudes among all staff members that will result in achievement of an organizationÆs central mission, goals, and objectives (Bolman and Deal, pp. 8 û12). However, today some managers and hard-driving leaders believe strongly that technical competencies of individuals are far more important that the ôsoft skillsö in making them (the individual) the most value added to the organization. In this brief report, the notion that the putatively ôtouchy-feeleyö skills communicating and listening well, interacting well, and motivating one another are less valuable than technical skills will be considered and rejected. The idea that organizational behavior, defined in terms of interpersonal competencies that motivate, communicate, empower, share decision-making, and foster commitment is as important as technical ôknow-howö will be advanced, affirming what Trenholm and Jensen (p. 332) have characterized as the ôimportance of role interactions,ö which can be but need not be dehumanizing and which can be and should be liberating...