OB draws heavily from behavioral and social sciences, most importantly from psychology (Vecchio, 2006). It studies the interrelation between an individual and an organization on the following levels:

- individual (concerned with personal growth)

- interpersonal (concerned with social competences)

- group (concerned with group dynamics)

- organization (concerned with organizational structures and culture).

In general, if we agree that the strong leaders in an effective collaborative environment are the key for successful implementation of a strategy, than studying an individual is really how deep we have to go to understand what is going on in an organization. We can know everything about the environment, we mapped the internal resources and competitive position, we may even have a winning strategy, but if we do not have the right managers and leaders to execute on the strategy, we will fail. Freedman stated that “true genius is required to implement strategy” (2003, p. 26) and that „the discipline and skill required for strategy implementation is as rare as that needed to formulate strategy“ (ibid.). In short, people are key.

Which latest advancements of OB do you personally consider the most beneficial to the general management theory? Which recent interesting publications have you found that you would like to share with us?

Freedman, M. (2003) “The Genius is in the Implementation”, Journal of Business Strategy, 24(2), pp. 26-31.

Vecchio, R.P. (2006) Organizational Behavior: Core Concepts, 6th ed. Mason: Thomson South Western.

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