PSYCH 342 / ORGB 302-- SPRING 2005
Organizational Behavior
Mon. & Wed. 15:30 – 16:45 – SOS B07
Instructor: Mahmut Bayazıt
Email: mbayazit@ku.edu.tr
Office: SOS 209 ; Ext: 1755
Office hours: Tuesdays 10:00 - 11:00 or by appointment
Teaching Assistants: Eda Hayırlıoğlu (ehayirlioğlu@ku.edu.tr) & Tuna Öztekin (toztekin@ku.edu.tr)
Course prerequisites:
This course has no prerequisites. However, courses that are taken in psychology (social psychology,
industrial and organizational psychology, human resource management), or sociology (sociology of
organizations and institutions) and having prior work experience may provide some advantage.
Course Description and Objectives:
The field of Organizational Behavior deals both with behavior of people in organizations and behavior of
organizations in a macro sense. Managing what people do in any organization is a challenging task and
is becoming more important for organizational performance and effectiveness. The challenge stems from
the fact that human problems are numerous, difficult to tackle, and complex in nature and also the fact
that organizations come in variety and they are changing continuously.
In this course we will primarily deal with issues related to human behavior and interpersonal relations as
they occur in organizational context. Studying OB will enable you, as future employees, to understand
your own and others’ behavior. It will enhance your ability to effectively communicate and influence
others, and therefore, strengthen your ‘people skills.’ In this course you will learn about theories,
research and practices in various OB topics such as individual and group behavior in organizations, power
and leadership, motivation and decision making, conflict and negotiation, as well as organizational
culture, structure and change.
Learning Outcomes:
Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to:
A. Point out the factors that influence human behavior in organizations;
B. Apply psychological concepts and theories to organizational settings;
C. Diagnose behavioral and performance problems in organizations and recommend appropriate
solutions;
D. Learn about teamwork through participation in teams.
E. Become a critical reader of the business press.
F. Improve your critical thinking, writing, presentation and time-management skills.
Course Format:
Due to the size of the class and the introductory nature of the subject matter I will start each topic with a
lecture. Lectures will be prepared to facilitate your understanding of the OB concepts and theories as
well as their application in organizations. The lectures should not be read to inhibit lively discussion,
candor, or fun. I like my classroom to be informal, alive, argumentative, interruptive, humorous, and
happy. I love students who are willing to take a chance on being wrong. Warning: sometimes I joke with
people. For example, if somebody says something wrong in class, don't be surprised if I say something
like "That is absolutely, 100 percent, unbelievably, WRONG!" When I do say things like that, it means
that (a) I'm having a little fun, (b) I like you, and (c) I think you can handle it. Also, sometimes I call on
people (especially quiet people). If you don't know the answer, don't worry about it. First of all, the
purpose of class discussion is not evaluation. Second, I don't assume that people are incompetent just
because they didn't have one particular answer on the tip of their tongue.
Course Requirements and Procedures:
A. Texts:
Greenberg, J., & Baron, R.A. (2003). Behavior in Organizations (8th Ed.). London: Prentice Hall.
Robbins, S. (2003). Organizational Behaviors (10th Ed.). London: Prentice Hall.
Textbooks are in reserve in the library (online reserve as well as hard copy). There may be limited
number of copies of the Greenberg and Baron (2003) text in the bookstore for those who want to own
their own copies. In addition to these two text books a number of other cases and materials will be
assigned which will be distributed or announced at least one week prior to their due date.
In this course, there are both individual and group assignments that are formally graded and count toward
your final course grade, as provided below.
B. Exams
There will be three exams, two mid-terms and one final. The mid-term will have a 15 percent
contribution to your final course grade. The final exam will be comprehensive, and account for 20
percent of your final course grade. Format of the exam questions will be a mixture of multiple-choice,
true-false, matching and fill-in-the-blanks. The exams will be closed-book, no notes, completed in class
during the class period.
C. Team Projects
It is a reality of today’s organizational life that many results are achieved or missed, and many
rewards are earned or foregone, on a group or team basis. As an example, team-based pay-forperformance often operates this way, so that “star” contributors may “carry” their group/team to
success and rewards, or they may suffer with their colleagues if others do not “pull their weight”. In
preparation for the reality of that kind of modern organizational environment, a significant part of
your grade for this course will be based upon the success of your group/team.
For the team projects you will be divided to teams of 4-5 students for the semester. Once you are
in a team officially you cannot change teams. The training will involve use of team meetings both during
and outside of class time and will consist of four assignments. The team projects will contribute 40
percent to your final grade. The descriptions of the assignments and their percentage of contribution to
your course grade are as follows:
Assignment 1. Learning how to be a team – 10%
The teams will submit 3 brief reports on the different steps in team formation, including
process evaluation of the team’s performance (#s 1, 2 and 5 below). The team output will
include presenting and leading case discussion in class.
1. Step 1 – “Who Are We?” paper
3 pts (Due Feb. 28).
2. Step 2 -- Team division of labor and process contract
4 pts.(Due March 30)
3. Step 3 -- Individual evaluation of team performance
3 pts.(Due May 16)
Assignment 2. Group process analysis – 10%
For this assignment we are going to watch the movie “12 Angry Man” on a designated time
(scheduled for April 13th during class; snacks will be provided). Your team assignment will be to
do a group process analysis. You will receive detailed instructions before the movie. Due April
25. This is fairly structured and fun assignment, so you will only have 12 days to complete.
Reminder: If you are not in class to watch the movie in the scheduled day, you are on your own.
Assignment 3. Harvard Business School Case Analysis – 10 %
For this assignment I will distribute each group a Harvard Business School Case. Your task as a
team will be to analyze the case using concepts and theories taught in class. You will submit your
analysis as a brief report (10-12 pages, use double space and 12 font). I may also ask you to discuss
your analysis informally in class. Your analysis can take the following format:
a. A very brief (not more than a page) introduction of the case you have analyzed (i.e. the
problem).
b. A brief (not more than two pages) description of your choice of concepts and theories you used
in your analysis as well as the reasons behind your choice.
c. A very detailed application of the concepts and theories of your choice to the case
d. A very detailed description of recommendations and suggestions to improve the practice or
solve the problem.
I will distribute the cases and the instructions on March 16. The case report is due May 4, which
means you will have more than a month and a half of time to complete your assignment. Do not
leave it to the last minute!
Assignment 4. Theory-Practice Fit Analysis (T-P Fit) – 20 % (paper and presentation 10% each)
For this assignment, you as a team will pick one OB theory to study and conduct a small scale
research in an organization (public, private or foreign joint venture) to examine how that theory fits
reality. You may conduct interviews with HR professionals and/or collect data through
observations, surveys of employees. At the end of your investigation, you will present your findings
to the class and produce a written report which should include the following parts.
a. A brief introduction of the company you visited, sector and industry within which it operates,
organizational chart (if available), number of branches and employees working for the company, its
mission, values and future targets, its internal and external environmental demands, and so on.
b. Your method of investigation (e.g., how many employees you interviewed with, how long did
your interviews last, etc.).
c. A detailed description of the way in which the issue at hand is handled in the organization.
d. A detailed assessment of theory and practice fit.
e. A detailed set of recommendations and suggestions to improve the practice.
You will have 15 minutes (very strict time limitation) to present your findings in class which will
be followed by a critique your research and discussion of your findings (presentations are due
May 18-25). We will decide which teams will present when using a lottery system before the
spring break. Your typed report should be between 12-15 pages excluding the appendices (e.g.,
interview excerpts, questionnaires, references, tables and charts etc.). Reports are due the final day
of the course (May 25).
Course Policies:
A. Attendance & Participation
The quality of your classroom experience depends partly on your participation. Your
participation depends on the extent to which you prepare for class and meaningfully contribute to
class discussions. You are expected to attend all class sessions, do all readings on time,
participate in class activities, complete exams as scheduled and turn in all assignments on time.
In the event that you are absent from 1/3 of the classes throughout the semester you will receive
an automatic “F” from this class. Attendance and participation will have a 10% contribution to
your final grade.
B. Grading
Type of Work Type of Evaluation
1st Midterm
Individual
2nd Midterm Individual
Assignment 1 Team
Assignment 2 Team
Assignment 3 Team
Assignment 4 Team
Paper
Presentation
Att. & Part.
Individual
Final Exam
Individual
Extra Credit
Individual (optional)
Contribution to final grade
15 %
15 %
10 %
10 %
10 %
10 %
10 %
10 %
20 %
110%
10 %
In determining your final grade for the semester, I will automatically exclude the worst grade that
your team has achieved among the five assignments (including the presentation) and then sum up
the other four. This will restore a 100-point basis for your final grade.
If you feel the grading of an assignment or an exam does not reflect the quality of the work you
have turned in, you must submit a typewritten argument explaining why you think your answers
deserve more points. You must supply specific and compelling arguments along with references
(if appropriate) to support your point of view.
Final semester scores will be translated to letter grades according to the following scale:
Over 90 = A ; 86 - 90 = A - ; 82 - 85 = B + ; 78 – 81 = B ; 74 - 77 = B - ; 70 - 73 = C + ; 67 - 69 = C;
63 - 66 = C - ; 59 - 62 = D + ; 55 - 58 = D ; Below 55 = F
C. Make-up exams
No make-up exams will be given unless there is an emergency and I am notified in advance.
There is no make-up for your team project assignments. If your assignments are late a 10% will
be deducted from your grade for each late day. Although I expect that work will be completed as
scheduled, at the same time I recognize that there are times when extenuating circumstances
make it extremely difficult to complete all course work by the end of the semester. In the rare
event that you cannot complete the assignments within the semester you will receive an
incomplete. It is your responsibility to complete all assignments and turn them in to the
instructor within the period specified by university policy.
D. Extra Credit
You can learn up to 10 extra credits by writing a book report on an OB related book. A list of
books is ready for you to choose from. I will decide if your book report deserves to earn extra
credits and how many, which means simply writing a report does not guarantee 10 total credits.
E. Academic Honesty
I would like to trust you. Please do not give me any reason to be suspicious of your honesty.
Some of the reasons are; getting caught giving or receiving help on assignments, and plagiarizing
(presenting someone else’s work as your own). If you do any of these you will be subject to
penalties outlined in the Policies and Procedures section of the University Catalog.
F. Special Accommodations
Students requiring special accommodations for writing exams or any other reason are encouraged
to contact me to ensure that the necessary arrangements can be made in advance.
G. Schedule
The following table sets forth the initially-planned schedule for this course. I hope and intend to
follow it closely, but it is subject to change, as I determine that circumstances warrant. You are
responsible for being aware of schedule changes by regularly consulting your e-mail
I. Introduction to Organizational Behavior (OB)
February 14
Course Introduction: What is OB?
Greenberg & Baron (2003), chapter 1
February 16
The history of OB and recent trends
Greenberg & Baron (2003), chapter 1
II.
Individual Determinants of Behavior at Work
February 21
Individual Differences: Attitudes
Robbins (2003), chapter 3
February 23
Individual Differences: Personality and Emotions
Robbins (2003), chapter 4
February 28
Perception
Greenberg & Baron (2003), chapter 2
Assignment 1 - Step 1 – “Who Are We?” paper due
March 1
Perception and Decision Making
Robbins (2003), chapter 5
March 3
Decision Making
Greenberg & Baron (2003), chapter 10
March 7
Managerial Decision Making: Pitfalls and Solutions
Greenberg & Baron (2003), chapter 10
March 9
Motivation I
Robbins (2003), chapter 6
March 14
Motivation II
Robbins (2003), chapter 6
March 16
Motivation Theories in Action: Mary Kay
Robbins (2003), chapter 7
Mary Kay Case
March 21
Mid-term Exam (in class)
III. Interpersonal Determinants of Behavior
March 23
Communication in Organizations
Greenberg & Baron (2003), chapter 9
(Cases & instructions for the team case projects are distributed)
March 28
Interpersonal Behavior in Organizations
Greenberg & Baron (2003), chapter 11
March 30
Groups and Teams
Robbins (2003), chapter 8
Assignment 1 -- Step 2 -- Team division of labor and process contract
April 2 - 4
Spring Break -- No classes
April 11
Group Dynamics and Teamwork
Robbins (2003), chapter 9
April 13
We are watching a movie!
Team Process Analysis: Film, Twelve Angry Men
April 18
Power & Politics
Greenberg & Baron (2003), chapter 12
April 20
Conflict & Negotiations
Robbins (2003), chapter 14
April 25
Leadership in Organizations
Greenberg & Baron (2003), chapter 13
Assignment 2 -- Group process analysis on Twelve Angry Men paper due
April 27
Leadership of Organizations
Robbins (2003), chapter 12
May 2
Mid-term Exam (in class)
IV. Macro Organizational Behavior
May 4
The Organization’s Environment
No readings
Assignment 3 – Team Case Analysis Due
May 9
Organizational Design Characteristic: Size Structure and Technology
Greenberg & Baron (2003), chapter 15
May 11
Organizational Characteristics: Culture and Practice
Robbins (2003), chapter 18
May 16
Organizational Development and Change
Greenberg & Baron (2003), chapter 16
Assignment 1 -- Step 3 -- Individual evaluation of team performance
May 18
Team Presentations
May 23
Team Presentations
May 25
Team Presentations
Assignment 4 – Theory practice fit analysis paper is due