THE UNIVERSITY OF LETHBRIDGE
MANAGEMENT 4310
ADVANCED ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR
Spring 2005
Professor:
Dr. Diane Miller
Office:
Telephone:
380-1845
E-mail:
Office Hours: Thursday 1:00-2:30, or by appointment
E516
d.miller@uleth.ca
COURSE DESCRIPTION
The prupose of this fourth-year seminar is to explore further the determinants of behaviour in
complex work settings. Through readings, discussions, and assignments, we will attempt to
understand why people behave the way they do in organizations and what this means for
management practices. To this end, students will be expected to read, discuss, present, and
debate leading edge issues in research and management. The course is appropriate for students
majoring in HR/IR.
PREREQUISITES
4TH Year Standing, Management 2030 (3030), and Management 3051.
TEXT
Osland, J.S., Kolb, D.A. & Rubin, I.M. (2001). Organizational Behavior: An Experiential
Approach (7th Ed.). NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Osland, J.S., Kolb, D.A. & Rubin, I.M. (2001). The Organizational Behavior Reader (7th
Ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
EVALUATION
Weekly Quizzes
Mid-term Exam (February 10)
15%
20%
Final Exam (during final exam period)
Individual Research Project (due March 29)
Readings Presentation
Debate
Participation
20%
20%
5%
10%
10%
GENERAL CLASS STRUCTURE AND ORGANIZATION
In general, we are covering one chapter per week. In the Tuesday class we will review the
chapter, clarify issues through discussion, and have class member readings presentations. On
Thursday a quiz will be given, and students will participate in activities such as debates and
exercieses.
QUIZZES AND EXAMS
In-class multiple choice quizzes will be given at the start of Thursday's class (15 percent). A
mid-term and final (20 percent each) will also be given. The material covered will be readings,
textbook chapters, class notes, discussions, exercises, and videos covered during the course. You
are expected to write the quiz on the assigned day. There will be no make-up quizzes. Your
lowest 2 quizes will be eliminated from your final grade. The mid-term exam will be written on
February 10th. The final exam will be written on the date assigned by the university (no
exceptions unless given permission by the Undergraduate Office). Exams will be essay
format.
INDIVIDUAL RESEARCH PROJECT
For this paper students should develop a research question that is relevant to the field of
Organziational Behavior. Questions might centre around topics such as employee attitudes,
motivation, satisfaction, or commitment; diversity, teamwork, or leadership issues; or other
relevant topics. Students sources should include 8 to 15 peer reviewed articles or books. Peer
reviewed sources can be obtained from ABI Inform or similar library data bases I will not
accept personal web pages as sources. Use APA format for the bibliography. The paper should
summarize the current state of the literature and address the question(s). The paper is intended to
invoke critical thinking to resolve an issue. Literature review papers will receive a lesser grade.
The paper should be as long as is required to address the issue. The research paper is due March
29th. You will also present your paper to the class during the last three weeks of the course.
Presentation days will be randomly assigned. This project is worth 20% of the course grade.
READINGS PRESENTATION
Working individually or in pairs, students will be responsible for presenting to the class a short
summary of one of the weekly assigned readings and an Organizational Behaviour article
relevant to the reading. Students should seek out the related paper from library books or
journals, or from on-line sources such as ABI Inform. Personal web-page articles are not
acceptable. The majority of the presentation time should be spent presenting your article but you
should be able to demonstrate the link from your article to the readings and show how it extends
our knowledge of the reading. You are also responsible for preparing a two-page bullet-point
summary (photo-copies for all course members) including the key points of your article and your
reaction to it. You will have 10 minutes to present the information to the class. You are
encouraged to rehearse the class presentations for content, flow, use of visual aids, and timing.
The presentation is worth 5%.
DEBATES
Debate teams will be formed by me to address opposite sides of an issue current to
Organizational Behaviour. Each team will make a 15 minute presentation of their side.
Following the main statements there will be a five minute break during which each team will
prepare its rebuttal to the main arguments posed by the opposition (rebuttals are limited to 6
minutes for each team). At least two days before the debate, presenting teams should e-mail the
instructor a 1-2 page (typed double spaced) summary of the team’s position and its main
arguments. Attach a bibliography in APA form listing the sources used in preparing your
position. Debates account for 10% of the course value.
The marks given for the above two assignments will be determined by computing the
average score of the assessments completed by the other course members, as well as the
evaluation given by the instructor. The instructor reserves the right to adjust student
evaluations that may be too lenient or too strict. Criteria can include presentation quality,
response to readings and other debators, and answers to questions.
PARTICIPATION
The importance of pre-class preparation, regular class attendance, as well as consistent and
meaningful contributions during class cannot be overemphasized. Students not involved in a
presentation should come to class ready to make insightful observations and ask thoughtful
questions. Marks are awarded based on active and thoughtful involvement in the day’s
discussion. Contributions which add a new insight or perspective to the discussion will be
weighted more heavily. Members of the class are responsible for their individual and collective
learning in this course – you will get out of the class what you put into it. Participation is worth
10% of the final grade.
ETHICAL CONDUCT
Ethical Conduct is expected from all students, in accordance with University policies as
described in the Calendar. Students cheating on any test OR submitting plagiarized, copied or
duplicated work as their own for individual or partnered projects can receive an immediate "F" in
the course (please refer to the Student Discipline Policy - Academic Offenses and Discipline
Procedures section of the Calendar). The circumstances of any applied penalties will be
thoroughly documented in your personal academic files. Ask yourself: Is it worth having
such a penalty documented on my academic file? If you are having problems completing
work it is far wiser for you to contact your instructor and request help and/or due date
extensions than to simply copy another student's work.
YOUR PROFESSOR.
I am a Professor of Organizational Behaviour. I received my B.A. from the University of
Victoria, my M.A.Sc. from the University of Waterloo, and my Ph.D. from the University of
Toronto. Before going back to school for my Ph.D., I worked as a contract consultant for the
Department of National Defence and for the Department of the Solicitor General. I also worked
as an internal consultant for the Federal Public Service Commission. My research interests are in
the area of groups and diversity and I have research and publications covering issues related to
these interests.
GRADE DISTRIBUTION
90 -100 A+
85 - 89 A
80 -84 A-
77 - 79 B+
73 - 76 B
70 -72 B-
67 - 69 C+
63 - 66 C
60 - 62 C-
57 - 59 D+
50 - 56 D
0 -49 F
COURSE OUTLINE
WEEK
TOPIC
ASSIGNMENTS
January 6
Introduction
Handout: Course Outline
January 11
Psychological Contract
January 13
January 18
Theories of Managing
January 20
January 25
Motivation
January 27
February 1
Motivation
Workbook: Ch. 1.
Readings: Rousseau
Conger
Exercise
Workbook: Ch. 2.
Readings: Mintzberg
Quinn
Exercise
Workbook: Ch. 4.
Readings: Nadler & Lawler
Kouzes & Posner
Debate
Exercise
February 3
Perception and
Attribution
February 8
Study day
February 10
February 15
Mid-term exam
Diversity
February 17
February 22
February 24
March 1
March 3
Workbook: Ch. 8. (no quiz)
Readings: Adler
Paul
Workbook chapters 1,2,4,8, all related articles
Workbook: Ch. 12.
Readings: Ragins et al.
Hofstede
Debate
Reading Week
Group Dynamics
Workbook: Ch. 9.
Readings: Wageman
Lipnack & Stamps
Debate
March 8
Leadership
March 10
March 15
Decision Making
March 17
March 22
Organizational Culture
March 24
March 29
Power
Research Paper due
Workbook: Ch. 13
Readings: Goleman
Manz & Sims
Exercise
Workbook: Ch. 15
Readings: Vroom
Klein
Debate
Workbook: Ch. 14.
Readings: Schein
Greiner
Debate
Workbook: Ch. 16.
Readings: Conger
Cohen & Bradford
Quiz
Presentations
March 31
Presentations
April 5
April 7
Presentations
April 12
April 13
Final Exam: Chapters 9, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 and related readings
Note: Additional detailed information concerning specific readings, pre-class preparations,
assignments, etc., for each topic area, will be provided separately. Also, weekly activities
may be modified slightly from those listed above.