Organizational Behavior MANA 6100: Fall 2014 PROFESSOR: Dr. Felissa Lee OFFICE: Straz Hall, 220 PHONE: 288-3905 EMAIL: felissa.lee@marquette.edu OFFICE HOURS: COURSE WEBSITE: By appointment D2L: http://d2l.mu.edu (course materials will be posted here) COURSE OVERVIEW & OBJECTIVES WELCOME!! This survey course is designed to provide you with an introduction to individual and group behavior in organizations. Some of the topics that we will cover include communication, personality, perceptions, motivation, leadership, group processes, conflict management, and decision making. Emphasis will be placed on synthesizing the material and applying the concepts to real-world problems. Because this is a survey course, we will not be able to cover any of the topics in great depth; rather, we will discuss a variety of theoretical frameworks that may be used as tools in situationally appropriate ways in your work life. Specifically, the following course learning objectives that form the basis for the activities in this class: Demonstrate critical thinking skills in identifying and diagnosing a business problem Develop strategies and skills for working with a variety of people in the workplace Communicate information and ideas effectively I am excited about teaching this class and want you to have fun learning! If you have some thoughts about how to structure the class to make it as enjoyable a learning experience as possible, please feel free to share your thoughts with me. MATERIALS Organizational Behavior V1.1 by T. Bauer & B. Erdogan. Flatworld Publishing. ISBN: 978-1-4533-0526-3 (Available in the MU bookstore or online via publisher) Harvard Business School cases available via the HBS website (instructions to be posted on D2L) Articles (posted on D2L)
EMAIL COMMUNICATION Please note that when communicating via email, especially if I am sending a message to the whole class at once, I will send the message to your Marquette email account and will expect that you regularly check this account. Some students have found it helpful to set their Marquette account to automatically forward messages to another email account (i.e., work, personal) that is accessed on a regular basis. GRADING Grades will be assigned according to the following scale: A 93-100% AB 88 92.9% B 83 87.9% BC 78 82.9% C 70 77.9% F 69.9% & below Grade Components: Participation 20% Group Project 20% Reaction Papers 20% Book Review 10% Midterm Exam 15% Final Exam 15% TOTAL POSSIBLE: 100% (1000 points) PARTICIPATION Active and regular participation on the part of students is critical for the success of this class as it is discussion & application-oriented. An important part of the learning process in this course will come from discussion of your workplace experiences. Further, the ability to communicate thoughts and opinions to colleagues is an important part of career success in the business world. Therefore, I reward your contribution to the learning environment -- a portion of your final grade will be based on the quality and quantity of your contributions to class discussions. You are expected to read the assigned chapter, articles, and case study each week and come to class ready to discuss the relevant issues. Active and consistent participation in class discussions throughout the semester is expected from all students. I will make notations after every class of the level of participation of every student in class that day. Attendance will place a ceiling on the number of participation points students can earn. Missing portions of class (i.e., leaving half-way through the class or arriving substantially late) is also considered in terms of the attendance & participation record. Also, if you are present but do not participate in class discussion you can receive up to 73% for that day. Multiple instances of tardiness, as these disrupt the class, will also affect the participation grade.
Please note that I do NOT penalize individuals for making comments that I don t agree with or that appear to be wrong. It is important to me that our class creates an open environment in which all opinions (hopefully informed opinions) can be expressed. Contributions can lead to learning in many ways: by asking questions, by sharing ideas and thoughts, by summarizing diverse points of view, etc. Contributions can also be detrimental, however, if they are too frequent and if they create a hostile and offensive learning environment. In assessing participation, I consider the extent the contributions: were well-reasoned insights that expanded the discussion were relevant, thought-provoking questions built upon and/or summarized earlier comments indicate an understanding of course material helped others learn REACTION ASSIGNMENTS You will complete 10 reaction assignments that will be posted on D2L. These assignments will consist of a brief set of questions about upcoming material to be discussed in class, and are primarily designed to help you reflect upon how the assignment material may be applied to your work life. These assignments are due to the D2L dropbox by noon each Thursday. BOOK REVIEW Students will review a "popular" management book of their choice and provide a review that is approximately 3 pages There are many possible books that could be used for the book review, ranging from current best sellers to classic management books. THE BOOK CHOSEN FOR THE BOOK REVIEW MUST BE APPROVED BY THE INSTRUCTOR. Please see me if you would like help or suggestions on books to read. Students will also provide a brief presentation to the class about the book reviewed. Assignment Rationale. I have several reasons for asking you to do a book review. First, I want to encourage you to be life-long learners and thus want to expose you to some popular business books. I hope that you read a book that you enjoy and that you will continue to read popular business books (and more broadly all types of books). Second, I hope that you learn something about behavior in organizations by reading the book. Quite often material that is covered in class is also discussed in the book students read and thus students may be able to do a better job of participating in class discussions after having read the book. Third, writing the book review will provide you with an opportunity to practice your writing skills, which is very important. Furthermore, determining how to structure the report and writing (and rewriting) the review allows you to develop your critical thinking skills, which is also important. Finally, OB is an exciting and interesting topic and I hope that your excitement to learn about the topic will be increased by reading a book of your choosing! The Review. Your book review for this class should first include a summary of the book's major points, features, and conclusions. The summary should comprise no more than half of your review. The second part of your review should be a critical review of the book's contents. This is where you want to be evaluative and analytical about the book. Your evaluative points, both positive and negative, can be based on course material, previous
studies, logic and common sense, or your own personal experience. You also need to reach an overall conclusion about the book's value taken as a whole. At the top of a cover page of your review please list your name and identify the book you reviewed with a singlespaced bibliographic reference that includes the book's author, title, city/publisher, and date of publication. Start your review on the next page. Grading. The review will be graded based on how well it communicates the content of the book and the critical evaluation of the book. Good papers will be written in such a manner that I feel like I have a relatively thorough understanding of the book and could hold a discussion with another individual about the book. Furthermore, better book reviews will integrate concepts from the book with content from the course if applicable. Please note that although you can rely on personal experiences when analyzing the book, you probably do not want to rely solely on your personal experiences. To reiterate: all else being equal, I will evaluate reviews that critically (which can be positive or negative) integrate the book s contents with course materials (or theories, etc.) more positively than book reviews that are less integrative. More globally, good papers will have an introduction, a body and a conclusion and the information will be presented in a logical manner. Grammar and spelling will also be considered in grading. Points will be deducted for late submissions. EXAMS The exams are designed to help you consolidate the concepts you have learned over the course of the semester and to recognize the themes running throughout. The exams will be in essay format and will ask you to integrate the concepts covered in the text, articles, case studies, and class discussions. You will be expected to demonstrate careful reading, understanding, and analysis of all assigned materials. GROUP PROJECT You will complete a project that involves a written report and a presentation. Group members will be asked to evaluate the contributions of their fellow team members and this feedback may be used to adjust individual team members grades. Points will be deducted for projects submitted late. You may choose from one of the following types of projects. Specific guidelines will be discussed in greater detail in class & with individual group members based upon topics selected. Organizational Topic Research. Examine an OB topic of interest to the group that was not covered in this course (or covered only briefly). Do a literature review using graduate-level research materials and provide an overview and analysis of the relevant issues. Business Leader Analysis. For this type of project, the team will investigate a business leader and analyze this person s behavior in terms of organizational behavior concepts. Issues that should be covered in this type of paper are as follows. 1. What are the leader s values and how do those values appear to influence the leader s attitudes and behavior? 2. How are the leader s values, attitudes and behavior reflected in the corporate culture of the organization? 3. How are the leader s ethics reflected in his/her actions? 4. How does the leader attempt to motivate his/her workers? Do you believe it is effective? Why/why not? 5. How does the leader communicate inside and outside the company? Is it effective? Why/why not? 6. How does the leader make decisions (i.e., what style of decision making does the leader seem to use)? Is it effective? Why/why not? 7. What type of leadership style does this person seem to use? Is it effective? Why/why not?
Organizational Analysis. Examine an organization (or business unit) in terms of selected OB issues that we have learned about in this course. Provide an analysis of the issues that you discover and provide recommendations for addressing any problems that you identify. ATTENDANCE While I expect that you will be present for every class, I understand that issues do arise and you might have to miss a class. You will be allowed 2 absences during the course of the semester, regardless of the reason for the absence(s). For the first two absences you will be given 73% of the participation points for that day (i.e., as though you were present but didn t speak during discussions). Thereafter, you will receive zero participation points for any day (or portion of a day) that you are absent.. You will still be responsible for the material covered during the class(es) that you missed. If you miss a class, you are expected to turn in any assignments due on that day prior to the beginning of class in order to earn full credit for the assignment. SPECIAL NEEDS Please inform me during the first week of class if you have any conditions that may limit or affect your ability to participate in this course so that we can make necessary arrangements. You may also contact the Office of Student Educational Services (OSES), in AMU 317 (8-3270) for more information (see also: http://www.marquette.edu/oses/). ACADEMIC HONESTY All written assignments are subject to submission to a plagiarism detection service such as Turnitin. Students are required to turn in electronic versions of their written assignments in addition to printed versions. Academic honesty is fundamental to the activities and principles of a university, and more broadly to society at large. I take matters of academic honesty very seriously, as does the University in general. Students caught cheating on an exam or written assignment will at minimum receive a zero for that work product and, depending upon the nature of the infraction, may also receive a failing grade for the course and be subject to further action taken by the University. Feel free to see me about questions or issues associated with academic honesty. Plagiarism is often a less obvious form of cheating, but it is just as serious. Plagiarism, in general, is representing the work of another person as your own. The most obvious form of plagiarism is directly using another person s text without using quotations or making reference to the original work. However, plagiarism also includes representing another s ideas as one s own, even if they are reworded, without making reference to the original source from which those ideas come. Quoting work and making reference to another s work in the correct form is not always easy to do. When in doubt, always at least try to make reference to a source from which ideas or quotes have come. A genuine attempt to do this, even if it is not in an established format, is the best safeguard against being accused of plagiarism. When in doubt, speak to me to clarify what you should do in this regard.
EMERGENCY PLAN Every Marquette University campus building has emergency shelter and evacuation plans. Please familiarize yourself with the plans of each building in which you take classes or attend meetings. Make sure to note the routes to the lowest level of the buildings for shelter during inclement weather, as well as exits from the buildings in the event of fire or other emergency. COLLEGE OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION ASSESSMENT STATEMENT The fundamental mission of the College of Business Administration is to provide a quality education grounded in Catholic, Jesuit intellectual values. Students are expected to learn how to function effectively in a diverse and global economy and develop into responsible members of the business community. As one of many methods of assuring that the goals of our educational mission are successfully met, the college regularly and systematically engages in the assessment of these competencies Students in the Bachelor of Science in Business Administration program are assessed on their ability to reason ethically, communicate effectively, analyze critically, and understand local, national and global business and cultural issues. Students in our MBA programs are also assessed on their competency to communicate effectively, reason ethically and apply critical thinking, as well as their capacity to comprehend the global strategic issues of firms and perform fundamental activities of business managers. Students in our other graduate programs are assessed on specific competencies related to their disciplines. Assessment takes place each semester in all programs and settings using quantifiable measures to gather and analyze information to help continuously improve the educational process. The College of Business Administration is dedicated to successfully providing a quality education for all students. Assessment is the continuous improvement process of evaluating our success. More information on assessment can be found at (http://www.marquette.edu/assessment/) or in the assurance of learning tabs under http://business.marquette.edu/academics/undergraduate or http://business.marquette.edu/academics/graduateschool
LIBRARY MATERIAL FOR PAPERS In order to assist you a bit in your search for material for your final projects and case analyses, I put together the following list of practitioner journals available on-line through the library. This list isn t exhaustive other publications could certainly be useful. More popular publications such as Business Week, Fortune, and Wall Street Journal can also be good sources but I want you to branch out and look at some publications you wouldn t normally read. In general, Proquest & Business Source Elite are good sources for business-related information. Please do not use articles taken from web sites for your projects. The quality and accuracy of these posted articles varies considerably. By contrast, the articles published in the sources listed below (and some other print sources) go through a quality-screening process, and thus you can be more certain that the information provided is accurate. Note that articles that are downloaded via the library in electronic form (such as through Proquest) are fine; that is different from using an article posted on a web site on the internet. In addition, it may be appropriate to use some background information from company web sites in your papers this is also different from an article posted on a web site. Harvard Business Review Organizational Dynamics Academy of Management Executive Business Horizons Human Resource Management Compensation & Benefits Review Training & Development Journal Personnel Journal Supervisory Management Management Today HR Magazine
PEER EVALUATION FORM: GROUP PROJECT Project Topic: Group member filling out form: Assign a score for each member of your team according to how much they contributed to the team s final products (paper & presentation). The scores for all of the members of your team should add up to 100 1 (please include yourself in this evaluation). In addition, each student must have comments written to justify their respective score. GROUP MEMBER SCORE COMMENTS TOTAL: 100 POINTS Additional comments (optional): 1 If you have a five member team and all contributed equally, each would receive 20 points If you have a four member team and all contributed equally, each would receive 25 points If you have a three member team and all contributed equally, each would receive 33 points
Tentative Schedule: DATE READING & PREPARATION DUE DATES Week 1 ARTICLE: Chapter 1: Introduction to OB Ethics Learning Module: Workplace Ethics Putting People First False Credentials (posted on D2L) Week 2 Chapter 2: Culture, Socialization, & Mentoring Chapter 3: Int l Culture Managing a Virtual Workplace D2L) Mentoring the Sales Force or Sexual Harassment? (posted on Chapter 4: Perception & Managing Diversity Submit book review topic Week 3 The Power of Talk: Who Gets Heard and Why Deloitt & Touche (B): Changing the Workplace Chapter 5: Individual Diffs - Self-Concept, Personality, Emotions Week 4 What Great Managers Do Competent Jerks & Lovable Fools Rob Parson (A) Chapter 6: Motivation I Week 5 How to Kill Creativity Google chapter (Aiming for Ev. Adv. Mgmt Innovation) Week 6 Chapter 7: Motivation II Pygmalion in Management Motivational Benefits of Goal-Setting Submit group membership and project idea Lisa Benton
Chapter 8: Performance Management Book Review Due Week 7 The Folly of Rewarding A While Hoping for B Are Your Employees Avoiding You? Closing the Feedback Gap Wolfgang-Keller (A) Week 8 Chapter 11: Conflict & Negotiation; Chapter 12: Communication Building the Emotional Intelligence of Groups Thomas Green Week 9 Chapter 9: Teams; Chapter 10: Decision-Making Decisions Without Blinders The Hidden Traps of Decision-Making Columbia Week 11 TBD Week 12 Chapter 14: Leadership Leadership that Gets Results Level 5 Leadership Just Trying to Help Week 13 TBD Week 14 Presentations Projects Due Week 15 Presentations Finals Wk