The Behavioral Core of Technical Excellence: A Synthesis of Organizational Behavior Theory and Contemporary Empirical Findings in Engineering Management

Abstract

This scholarly review synthesizes classical Organizational Behavior (OB) principles across three levels of analysis with contemporary empirical findings (2020–2025) to develop a rigorous framework for understanding and enhancing human capital within engineering and project-based organizations. Organizational Behavior is defined as the study and application of knowledge about how individuals and groups act in organizations, providing the bridge between the objective, physical world of technical work and the subjective, social aspect of the workplace.¹ At the individual level, empirical research strongly supports that innovative self-efficacy (scoring $0.360$) is the most significant individual factor driving innovative work behavior, which, in turn, highly predicts job performance.² This finding reframes innovation strategy, underscoring the need for experience-based confidence building over raw creativity training.¹ Regarding group dynamics, the efficacy of shared leadership is temporally contingent, exerting its strongest positive influence during the early, creative planning phases of a project, thereby moderating the relationship with team effectiveness.³ Organizationally, the matrix structure, while necessary for managing project size and complexity, is empirically linked to inherent high stress, role conflict, and potential turnover, requiring targeted managerial selection for high conflict tolerance.⁴ Furthermore, the successful integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) necessitates a fundamental cultural transformation toward agility and continuous learning, rather than solely a technical implementation, as organizational culture dictates the selection of project methodologies more than the project characteristics themselves.⁶ The review concludes that mastering behavioral competencies is the crucial prerequisite for converting technical proficiency into sustainable organizational resilience and project success.