BA 300

Organizational Behavior

Spring 2009

Texts (required):  Organizational Behavior: integrating Individuals, Groups, and Organizations.  Champouz, J.E. 3^rd Ed. 2006.

Objectives for the course:

The course is centered on developing a working knowledge of, and ability to apply, the key theories that deal with human behavior in work settings.  Content includes: individual differences, personality, attitudes, perception, attribution, and biases.  Other topics covered are the major theories of motivation and leadership, dynamics of group interaction, teams, social processes, diversity, organizational culture, and ethics.

The content of the course is intended to provide an overview of the various aspects of organizational behavior and to acquaint the participants with the operational issues involved with managing and leading in organizations.  The class will provide a foundation upon which to build one’s management toolbox as opposed to being an end in itself.

At the end of the class the participants will have the ability to discuss individual differences, perceptions, and attributions and their impact on organizational life.  You will be able to competently demonstrate an understanding of motivational theories and their application to prescribe alternate solutions management problems and motivational issues.  Additionally you will be able to demonstrate an understanding of group processes, decision-making, and teams.  Finally, you will be able to apply the knowledge gained in the class to effectively design jobs and you will have a greater understanding of leadership and power as it applies to organizations.  Overall you will become more effective as a contributor to, and beneficiary of, more efficient organizational operation in your work and community service life.

Course Format:

Participation: Experiential learning requires your involvement to work, so you need to get into the game.  This is not to say that everything a student says must contain some brilliant insight.  However your good ideas, experience, and insights do the rest of the class little good if you fail to express them.  Your comfort level with this part of the class will improve with practice, so start now.  It is understood that at times you may face conflicting priorities in your life and that you may make the decision that another priority must come before the class, or you may be prevented from attending by some circumstance that is not in your control.

I reserve the right to dock any student up to 10% of the total points possible in the class (or any other amount less than 10% of the total points possible in the class) if s/he fails to attend and participate in the class as a serious student.  If you are going to miss a class for any reason it is your responsibility to inform me at least 48 hours prior to the absence that you will not be in class and the reason for missing the class.  I am generally lenient about students having time conflicts as long as it is very limited.  If you cannot commit to be in class please drop the class.

Study Groups: I encourage you to work with others in the class to gain a better understanding of the material and to review for the exams. An approach I recommend is to form a group of 3-4 people and work on the reading assignments together.  All members of the group need to read all of the assigned readings for the best results.  Individual members can be assigned responsibility (by the group) to outline a particular reading in a section and to make the notes available to the other members of the group.  Then, meet for an hour or so to discuss the content of the readings prior to the class discussion of the related material.  If you do this you will accomplish the following: 1) You will have a complete set of the reading notes at the end of the semester to refer to with a fraction of the effort it would take to do them all yourself. 2) You will be exposed to differing points of view on the material informally prior to the class. 3) You will achieve greater command of the material and be better prepared for the exams. 4.) You will become friends with your classmates.

Performance Evaluation:

Quizzes: It is important to keep up with the reading to develop an understanding of the concepts we will be discussing in class and applying to the in class discussions.  Quizzes can be taken on line at the book web site.  I will not be grading them this semester.  However, I strongly suggest that you complete them since they reinforce your learning and comprehension of the material and they are a very good study guide for the examination multiple choice questions.

Examinations:  There will be two examinations, a mid term and a final.  They will be multiple choice and short answer.  There will be 27 questions in the multiple choice section.  To obtain a perfect score you will need to answer 25 of these questions correctly, if you get them all correct you earn a perfect score plus the extra credit for the two extra questions.  The two extra questions are included to cover any issues with unclear wording and answers that may be argued to be as nearly correct or too close to another answer to distinguish between the two.  Research has demonstrated that around 5% of the multiple choice questions on a given examination fall into the category as described above.  By including 27 questions to get 25 correct this should remove any reasonable chance that the student is at a disadvantage, therefore I will not entertain arguments that questions are unclear, etc. on the multiple choice section of the examination.   There will be three questions on the application of the concepts we are learning in the short answer section.  You will have a pool of questions to study for before the examination from which the three questions on the examination will be drawn.  The questions for the essay section of the examination will be chosen at random from the pool of review questions so it is best to study for all of the potential questions rather than to try to guess which ones will be on the examination.  The study groups mentioned above are an effective way to study for this section of the examination.

Case Analysis:  Application of the concepts learned during the semester is critical to becoming a proficient manager/leader.  Case analysis will give you a chance to demonstrate your ability to identify issues and make recommendations regarding how to address the issues in a business context.  We will have two mini cases and a final larger case analysis to complete.  The mini cases will give you practice in recognizing issues and making recommendations that will be useful when you are completing the final case analysis.  Each mini case is worth 10 points and the final case is worth 20 points.  Detailed information regarding this assignment will be provided as the semester proceeds.

Extra Credit: Extra credit for participating in research projects may be available for up to 5% of your total grade. Opportunities for this will be announced in class, as they are available.

Academic Honesty:  The university policy regarding academic honesty is found in the Fact Finder.  My policy is that any form of academic dishonesty will not be tolerated and if any student is found to be cheating or engaging in any other academically dishonest activities in this class that student will receive a failing grade for the class.

Course Points Summary:

In Class Protocol:

The primary purpose for attending class is to learn the subject material in order to further your professional and personal development.  For that reason it is important to have an environment that is conducive to learning and free from unnecessary distractions.  Therefore the use of cell phones, pagers, watches that are set to chime at certain times, boom boxes, walkmans, iPods, iPhones or any other devices that produce noise or in any other way create a distraction in the classroom is specifically prohibited from use in the classroom.  If you carry any of these devices into the classroom, please make sure that they are turned off or set so that they alert you silently.  Your consideration for your classmates will be appreciated.  Regarding text messaging in my class: please do not do it ever.  I allow the use of computers for note taking.  Please do not use the class time for web surfing, e-mail, or any other purpose.

All work is due as noted in the syllabus.  Written assignments are to be handed in at the beginning of class the day they are due in the classroom or prior to the beginning of class the day they are due via e-mail.  Work that is handed in any other time or place will be docked points unless you have made prior arrangements with the instructor at least 48 hours in advance.  I will accept late work, but it will be awarded a reduced grade.  Work that is handed in less than one week late will be reduced by 10% of the total points for the assignment.  Overdue work that is handed in from one week to two weeks late will be reduced by 20% of the total points for the assignment.  Work handed in over two weeks late will be reduced by 40% of the total points for the assignment.

Tentative Course Schedule:

The course schedule, assignments, and content will be held to the information contained in this document as closely as possible. It is understood that changes may be made time to time to meet the needs of the class at the discretion of the instructor. This document is specifically not intended to constitute a contract between the instructor and the students in the class.

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