Organizational Behavior Importance

Organizational Behavior Importance Organizations are all around us. We are born in an organization, we live, work and most probably will die in an organization. Yet most of us do not understand how people function, behave and interact between each other within these organizations. We also do not understand if people shape an organization or an organization shapes people. In the beginning, people create an organization and shape its mission and culture and later more people join the organization. This new group of people adjust themselves within the existing organizational culture. Sometimes they also influence organizational culture by bringing new and unique skills to the organization. Sometimes they learn from each and at other times, external forces like competition, political and cultural changes compel them to learn new technical, communication or interpersonal skills. All these internal and external factors help an organization and its people to evolve to cope with the ever-changing world. Until recently, managers paid little attention to Organizational Behavior or soft skill training. The industrial revolution created the need for hard (technical) skills. People worked in the production line and were not required to think or interact to each other. However, things have changed; instead of standing behind the production lines, they now sit in front of a computer and control a robot who works in the production line. Now, people need more technical skills, but they also need skills to communicate and work within a group. The great English poet Samuel Butler put it together more eloquently, "Any fool can paint a picture, but it takes a wise man to be able to sell it." If the "fool" is the metaphor for hard skill then the "wise man" would be the soft skill; but the soft skill of the wise man is useless without the hard skill of the fool; the harmonizing of both skills sells the picture. Therefore, the study of Organizational Behavior is not