MAN 5246 Organizational Behavior MACC Cohort Hough Graduate School Warrington College of Business Administration University of Florida

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1 MAN 5246 Organizational Behavior MACC Cohort Hough Graduate School Warrington College of Business Administration University of Florida GENERAL INFORMATION Instructor: Linda D. Clarke, B.S., B.A., M.B.A., Ph.D., J.D. Phone: Office: Bryan 219 Fax: Office Hours: TBA, call or for an appointment Please read this syllabus in its entirety. It is a part of the course content. Further, it is important that you understand what is required in this course and the timeframes for completing its assignments and activities. COURSE DESCRIPTION This course provides graduate students with an introduction to organizational behavior, as well as the basics of organizational design and implementation. Issues to be covered include: What is organizational behavior? Why is this concept important to your career? Managing diversity in organizations. What is motivation and how can we inspire it in organizations? What is organizational culture? How is this different from national culture? What are the big issues in the field of organizational behavior? Who are leaders? What makes one successful? What are the major components of good organizational design?

2 COURSE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES This is an applied course in organizational behavior, focusing on issues relevant to 21 st century organizations in a variety of contexts: global, domestic, and virtual. The core of this course is centered on reframing or finding new opportunities and options in confusing and troubling organizational situations. As such, topics such as managing change from various perspectives will be tackled. All of these reframed discussions will be anchored in organizational behavior s foundational concepts and literature, providing you with the most influential scholarly work on the topic. There is also a rich mix of geographic, cultural, international, and gender diversity which is to be considered throughout the course. Other important take-aways will include managing across global boundaries, networked organizations, and globally distributed work. These are all critical elements that play important roles in today's world. The graduate student can expect that this course will not be standard; the important take-aways will be quite practical, in terms of how to manage today s multicultural teams, how to deal with corporate initiatives and/or SMEs as they roll out their future plans. Cast against what academe judges to be the world s best run companies, this course will focus on elements that constitute effective and ineffective organizational practices. The challenge is to take these lessons learned, and apply them in the real world context. The goal here is a 'reframed' approach to management within the context of modern organizations. The key objective of this course is to illuminate the study of organizational behavior and design from both a theoretical and practical perspective in order to explain why managers often misread situations and how they can avoid doing so. In gereral, many managers simply have not learned how to use multiple lenses to get a better sense of what they're up against and what they might do. Accordingly, we will talk about a powerful tool referred to as "reframing." In other words, we'll be looking at organizations (both public and private) from more than one angle. The ability to step 'outside' one's own frame of reference is hard; however, when organizations are viewed from the perspective of factories, families, jungles, and theaters/temples, a variety of new perspectives emerge. From the 'structural frame,' you will learn how to organize and structure groups and teams for results. From the 'human resource frame,' you will learn how to tailor organizations to satisfy human needs, improve human resource management, and build positive interpersonal and group dynamics. From the 'political frame,' you will learn how to cope with power and conflict, build coalitions, hone political skills, and deal with internal and external politics. Finally, from the 'symbolic frame,' you will learn how to shape a culture that gives purpose and meaning to work, stage organizational drama for internal and external audiences, and build team spirit through ritual, ceremony, and story. MAJOR & CURRICULUM OBJECTIVES TARGETED The is a general business course in the sense that the case analyses, skill building exercises, and classroom discussions draw upon globalization context for business, as well as critical thinking, analytic skills, and

3 ethical reasoning abilities. Thus, in addition to the course objectives detailed above, this course will address general business education learning objectives, including communications ability and the use of information technology. The course is organized sequentially around three modules, with several chapters from the text and lectures accompanying each: Individual Behavior and Processes, Team Processes, and finally, Organizational Processes. You will have one key assignment during each of these modules: a team-based case project to get you started with using the basic concepts and principles of organizational behavior using a pre-packaged but real-world scenario (Module 1); a team-based research paper applying the concepts you re learning to team-defined, real world organizational challenge(s), making appropriate recommendations for those challenges (Module 2); and an individual, comprehensive final exam where you will be expected to define, apply, and evaluate the concepts and principles you ve learned in answering test questions drafted in the organizational context (Module 3). Therefore, by the end of the semester (and in preparation for the final exam), you should have developed competencies around each of the following learning goals, and will demonstrate this competency by completing objectives based on your assigned team case presentation and research paper projects as well as individually on the final exam through the use effective writing, research and presentation skills: 1.) Understand issues and practices pertaining to organizational design and behavior within the context of a multinational environment. 2.) Recognize the value and impact of cultural differences and be able to develop successful programs to leverage these differences effectively within the organizational framework. 3.) Recognize different organizational structures, strategies, work designs and methods for organizing in both dynamic and stable organizational environments. 4.) Demonstrate understanding of the role of human abilities, perception, personality, attitudes, values, culture and other individual differences in predicting, organizing and managing behavior in organizations. 5.) Explain various methods of fostering motivation, commitment, and learning through people management skills. 6.) Explain how to manage group processes in organizations including management of teamwork, conflict, negotiation, and decision-making. 7.) Identify methods for overcoming resistance to organizational change and carrying out organizational development processes. TEXTBOOK

4 1.) Organizational Behavior: Emerging Knowledge and Practice for the Real World Authors: Stephen L. McShane and Mary Ann Von Glinow 7 th Edition Publisher: McGraw-Hill TEACHING METHODOLOGY The course will have both traditional and online format components: we will be using a course site to post materials, have discussions, etc., which is delivered using the Warrington College of Business Administration s electronic platform, or E-Learning System. The course content will be posted and available through the E-Learning System site, so please check it often. The course website address is: Due to the nature of this type of course, much of the responsibility will go to you, as graduate students, to read the material and prepare the assignments which will be submitted electronically through the Assignments section of the E-Learning System course site. If at any time you encounter difficulties using E-Learning System, please go to: or helpdesk@ufl.edu. COURSE PREREQUISITES Please make sure that you have completed all prerequisites, if, any, as required by your particular program of study, before taking this course. If you are unsure, please consult with your academic advisor for your degree program. COMMUNICATING WITH THE INSTRUCTOR For fastest response, please contact the professor directly via phone at or at clarkel@ufl.edu. Please use only this direct address so I can respond to your queries as quickly as possible; do NOT use the mail function on the course site for this purpose. Please do NOT post queries to the professor in the general discussion forums on the class site, as they can get lost in the more generic volume of posts that tend to build up over the duration of the course. Feel free to use the site functions for other general, course-related mail and postings to each other, however. GRADING

5 Course Requirements ACTIVE participation in team discussions, case presentations and other group work, as well as class exercises, along with peer evaluations of team performance (you will submit a self- and peer evaluation form near the end of the term). Team Research Paper Project (Virtual or live PowerPoint presentation to class and written research paper) Team Case Project (PowerPoint presentation to class and written case analysis) Weights 15% 40% 20% Individual Final Exam 25% Grade Scale: Letter Grade Range Letter Grade Range Letter Grade Range A % B % D % A % C % D 64-66% B % C 74-76% D % B 84-86% C % F < 60% POLICIES AND PROCEDURES As a college, we care about and enforce the university s policies and procedures as they are important to the quality of the education we are providing to you. Details on UF policies can be found at the university website: UF POLICIES

6 UNIVERSITY POLICY ON ACCOMMODATING STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES: Students requesting accommodation for disabilities must first register with the Dean of Students Office ( The Dean of Students Office will provide documentation to the student who must then provide this documentation to the instructor when requesting accommodation. You must submit this documentation prior to submitting assignments or taking the quizzes or exams. Accommodations are not retroactive, therefore, students should contact the office as soon as possible in the term for which they are seeking accommodations. UNIVERSITY POLICY ON ACADEMIC MISCONDUCT: Academic honesty and integrity are fundamental values of the University community. Students should be sure that they understand the UF Student Honor Code at **NETIQUETTE: COMMUNICATION COURTESY: All members of the class are expected to follow rules of common courtesy in all messages, threaded discussions and chats. [Describe what is expected and what will occur as a result of improper behavior] Library Support: The UF library provides a number of services to on-campus and distance learning students. For example, students can request detailed instructions on how to access library resources by seeking assistance from the librarians online at You can visit the UF Library at: TESTS Each student will take an individual comprehensive final exam at the end of the term. This test will be taken during the last week of the term (exact day and time is as per college s program schedule). The exam will cover assigned readings of chapters from the text, as well as any other assigned readings, or materials from cases presented prior to the date of the test. There will be a review for the final exam that will be posted online approximately one week before the exam date, if not earlier. Please note that the final exam will likely be administered through the E-Learning System, even if given in-class, so please bring your laptops to the last class. NO help from other students or any form of student collaboration on the exam is permitted. The exam versions may vary from student to student, but will each consist of equally weighted questions of comparable levels of difficulty. USE OF THE CLASS E-LEARNING SITE Please contact the professor directly if you have any questions or concerns regarding the use of the class E-learning site. For issues with technical difficulties for E-learning in Canvas, please contact the UF Help Desk at:

7 1. 2. (352) 392-HELP - select option ** Any requests for make-ups due to technical issues MUST be accompanied by the ticket number received from LSS when the problem was reported to them. The ticket number will document the time and date of the problem. You MUST your instructor within 24 hours of the technical difficulty if you wish to request a make-up. Other resources are available at for: Counseling and Wellness resources Disability resources Resources for handling student concerns and complaints Library Help Desk support Should you have any complaints with your experience in this course please visit to submit a complaint. DISCUSSION Students are encouraged to use the general discussion forum at the course site, as well as their teams private discussion forums to communicate with each other outside of class. The professor will post general information on the main discussion forum, and in announcements, as well as team specific information on private group forums from time to time. If you want to communicate with the professor, or have a question, please ONLY use the professor s direct address clarkel@ufl.edu, or call her at Please do not post questions for the professor on the general or private discussion forums. This policy is in order to provide the fastest turnaround possible in answering your questions individually and specifically. ASSIGNMENTS In this course, there are both individual and team-based assignments: Due dates for all assignments are listed in the course calendar below. Team Case Assignments: Once your team has been formed (see instruction under Week One of the course calendar below), the team should appoint one member to post the team roster to the specially

8 designated section of the discussion forum on the E-learning site, along with the name of your team that the group s members have come up with. Along with a roster of team member names, the team should also come up with a list of its case preferences from the options for the team case project that will be discussed in detail in the first live class meeting. Again, each team should designate one person to upload this list. The team case project will consist of a PowerPoint presentation and a written case analysis. Both of these documents will be posted to the specially designated section of the E-learning class site Discussion Forum, AND to the Assignments section of that site, where all individual assignments will also be posted, so that all students in the course will have access to a complete set of case projects Individual Assignments: You will need to keep up with the lectures, textbook readings, and viewing of team case and research projects, as posted, so your presence in class and virtually online, and participation and timeliness in keeping up with these exercises is critical to the success of the lesson plan for the class as a whole. RESEARCH PAPER Team Research Paper Project: An Organizational Analysis: Redesign and Implementation Plan Each team will engage in a term-long project in which they will research a real-world organization and write a research paper and a summary presentation that will be made virtually to the class near the end of the term (Note: if class size is small enough, we will endeavor to do these live in class this determination will be made at the first class meeting). The assignment is to analyze the firm s existing operations and to identify a significant organizational behavior or structural problem that is facing the firm. Please note that most firms will have several, if not many, organizational challenges they are facing. Please focus on only ONE of them in your report! Your team will write a paper detailing the current state of the organization and its members (who they are, what they do, how they are structured at present). You will then identify and describe the organizational challenge they face and discuss the problems it is causing for the firm and why it needs to be addressed. Finally, you will discuss your proposed solution to the problem in detail; including any proposed organizational redesign to be implemented as part of the solution (you may include as many charts as you desire to illustrate your points, redesigns, key company data, etc.). In concluding your paper, discuss how the solution will be implemented (time frame, key organizational members involved, any training and lead times, necessary, etc.) and what key results the firm can expect to achieve as a result and benefit of implementing you proposed solution. This paper will be discussed in more detail in the first class meeting, including format, page length requirements, etc.

9 EXPECTATIONS OF THIS COURSE Please keep in mind that this is a traditional format course, so your attendance in class is expected and required. In addition, most of the lecture materials, peer discussions, and review materials will be posted or conducted online, through the class E-learning site, and through interactions online generally with your classmates, and especially, your team members. Expectations for performance and collegial behavior online are the same as for the traditional format portion of the course; indeed, courses with substantial online components require a degree of selfmotivation, self-discipline, and technology skills that can make them more demanding for some students. You will be expected to interact in person in class and online with the professor and your fellow students, to do assignments, and to meet deadlines. If you are unsure about any of the above, please ask the professor directly at clarkel@ufl.edu or by phone at Please feel free to call anytime. If I don t answer for some reason, please leave your name, course and number where you can be reached and I will call you back as soon as possible. COURSE CALENDAR Module Format Week 1: Jan. 5 Topic First Class Meeting: Course Introduction: Students choose teams for group case assignments. Teams should consist of approx. 5-6 students per team (no more than this!) If you d like to start organizing yourself into teams before the first class, you may use the class E-learning site general discussion forum to start the process, and then come up with a name for your team, and include it in the posting. Please make sure the rosters are complete and accurate before you post them. (I am aware that you may already have formed teams from prior courses in the program, if you want to keep these, that s fine, but I still need a roster from each team.) Teams will then come up with case assignment preferences as the ones they would like to work on for the team case project we will discuss the options and format for this project in detail in class. Once you have the list of preferences agreed upon, please have the team leader post this list to its specially designated section of the E-learning class site discussion forum. We will endeavor to assign each team their highest preference, on a first-come basis. This will be accomplished in full either at the first live class meeting, or via shortly thereafter to each team s private discussion forum.

10 MODULE ONE: INDIVIDUAL BEAHVIOR AND PROCESSES Lecture Topics and Detailed Discussion of Assignments: This Week s Topic: Intro to Org. Behavior and the Individual Readings for THIS class: Chapter 1: Intro to the Field of Organizational Behavior Homework Assignments: You may begin work on you team s case project assignment once you ve joined a team and had your team s case preference confirmed, either in the first class meeting, or by a return message from the instructor posted to the team s private discussion forum. Week 1: Jan. 7 Topic: Individual Behavior Chapter 2 Individual Behavior, Personality, and Values Topic: Perception and Learning Week 2: Jan. 12 Chapter 3: Perceiving Ourselves and Others in Organizations Week 2: Jan 14 Topic: Workplace Emotions, Attitudes, and Stress Reading for THIS Week: Chapter 4 Workplace Emotions, Attitudes, and Stress Topic: Employee Motivation Week 3: Jan. 19 Reading for THIS Week: Chapter 5 Foundations of Employee Motivation Team In-Class Case Presentations: Team 1, Team 2

11 Assignment: Team s research project proposal Due no later than Jan. 24 th by 11:55 pm - This can be in posted in the related Assignment section on the class site. It can be just a couple of sentences describing the research target firm, the key problem, and the methodology you plan to employ. Please try to settle on your research topic well before this deadline if at all possible, so your team can get started on the research and have plenty of time to complete the analysis before the end of the term while students find this to be a fun project, it takes longer than you may think to get it all together so plan ahead! Topic: Workplace Performance Week 3: Jan. 21 Chapter 6 Applied Performance Practices Team In-Class Case Presentations: Team 3, Team 4 Topic: Decision-Making and Creativity in Organizations Week 4: Jan 26 Chapter 7 Decision Making and Creativity Team In-Class Case Presentations: Team 5, Team 6 Week 4: Jan. 28 MODULE TWO: TEAM PROCESSES Topic: Teams

12 Reading for THIS Week: Chapter 8 Team Dynamics Team Case In-Class Case Presentations: Team 7, Team 8 NOTE: ALL STUDENT TEAM CASE PROJECTS DUE BY THE END OF THIS WEEK: Submit: Team Case Projects Due by 11:55 pm on Jan. 31st. The written case analysis and the PowerPoint presentation from your team case project must be posted to the class site by the deadline. Specific instructions will be posted on this before the due date, but generally, for documents, post them as file attachments to a message which gives your team name and case name in the subject line. Topic: Communication Week 5: Feb. 2 Chapter 9 Communicating in Teams and Organizations Week 5: Feb. 4 Topic: Power Dynamics Chapter 10 Power and Influence in the Workplace Topic: Conflict & Negotiation Week 6: Feb. 9 Chapter 11 Conflict and Negotiation in the Workplace Week 6: Feb. 11 Topic: Leadership

13 Chapter 12 Leadership in Organizational Settings MODULE THREE: ORGANIZATIONAL PROCESSES Week 7: Feb. 16 Topic: Structure Chapter 13 Designing Organizational Structures Topic: Culture Week 7: Feb. 18 Chapter 14 Organizational Culture Topic: Change Review for Final Exam Week 8: Feb. 23 Chapter 15 Organizational Change Assignment for THIS Week: Submit: Team Self and Peer Evaluation: forms are due no later than Thursday Feb. 25th at 11:55 pm, EST. Please complete the form located on the course E-learning site, and post in the designated Assignments section of that same site. Final Exam: In-class. Please bring your laptops to class to take the final exam. Week 8: Feb. 25 Due: All Team Research Papers and PPT. Presentations Please post your final draft to the designated section of the Assignments portion of the course site. Note: The Final Exam will be held on campus in the last regular class session. More details on the exam administration will be posted in an announcement on the course

14 site. The final exam covers all prior readings, cases, and lectures, it will be administered through the E-learning system, so please bring your laptops to class. Note: After you submit your team project to Assignments, please also post it to the discussion forum so that your fellow team/class mates can access them. ALL FINAL DRAFTS of the written paper for your team research project must be submitted no later than this date, please bring one hardcopy to the last class, or you can submit them electronically earlier if at all possible to facilitate final grading deadlines. Your FINAL EXAM is live on campus today as well. Good Luck! Note: This syllabus is subject to change if the need arises. It represents current plans and objectives, but as we go through the semester, those plans may sometimes require adjustment in order to enhance the class learning opportunity. Such changes, if necessary, will be communicated clearly and are not unusual.