UNIVERSITY OF LETHBRIDGE FACULTY OF MANAGEMENT MANAGEMENT 3360 ORGANIZATION THEORY Section N Instructor: Dr. John M. Usher Term: Spring 2004 Office: E570 Time: Tues 18:00–20:50 Telephone: 329-2633 Room: AH177 E-mail: john.usher@uleth.ca Class page: \\Ulfiles\classweb\200401\mgt3360n ______________________________________________________________________________ Course Objectives: This course is about organizations and the linkages among their environments, strategies and structures. How and why organizations function as they do will be described in a framework designed to improve organizational effectiveness. The course will focus on the aggregate behaviour of people in various organizations - business, government, education, professions. This course builds on the material covered in MGT2030 which deals with the behaviour of individuals and small groups in organizations - a “micro” focus. MGT3360 will use an integrative “macro” focus to diagnose and analyze how the successful implementation of organizational strategies is often contingent upon achieving a good fit between specific environmental factors and organizational structure and process variables. Course Materials: Daft, Richard L. Organization Theory and Design, (8th edition). Publishing, 2004. ISBN: 0-324-15691-X St. Paul MN: West Basis of Evaluation 1. 2. 3. 4. Group Presentation Mid term examination Group Assessment Final examination 20% 35% 10% 35% 100% Grade Distributions A+ A A- 95-100 90-94 86-89 B+ B B- 82-85 78-81 74-77 C+ C C- 70-73 66-69 62-65 D+ D F 58-61 50-57 00-49 Course Structure and Requirements: Group Presentation: Students will be required to work in groups of their own choosing to prepare and present a case analysis from the text. Group size will be a function of final course enrollment (5-6 estimated). Group members may be ‘fired’ for cause by a 2/3 majority of the group following consultation with me. There is no alternative work for credit available to fired members. Do not find yourself in this situation. Teamwork is a critical managerial skill set. Presentations will be structured as follows: (1) A 10-15 minute overview / interpretation of the case facts ending with a summary of the key issues facing the organization. Creativity (home videos, skits, etc.) is highly encouraged for this segment as long as form does not overwhelm substance. (2) Each presenting group will also have the responsibility of providing a list of questions about the case to be answered by the other groups in the class. Each non-presenting group should be assigned a different question (or different sides of the same question) and the taking up of these questions by the presenting group will constitute the analysis / diagnosis segment of their presentation. Questions which call for conclusions such as specific recommendations or details of implementation should be avoided as these are the job of the presenting group. Upon assigning the analysis questions, members of the presenting group will circulate among the nonpresenting groups to provide advice and general assistance during the 15-20 minutes available for these groups to work on their responses. Before your presentation begins please provide me with a list of the questions that you expect the other groups to answer and that I am aware which groups will be assigned which questions. (3) Upon reconvening the class, the presenting group will call upon a spokesperson from each non-presenting group in turn to provide their response to the assigned question. After each response, a member of the presenting group will comment on the answer provided and discuss how they handled that question. (4) During the final segment of the presentation, the presenting group provides details of how they would resolve the issues of the case: alternative courses of action that were considered (the 'what' with the pro's & con's of each), the recommended course of action ('which' of the alternatives was chosen), and implementation details (the 'how' of putting the recommendation into action.) Examine your alternatives carefully to ensure that they are true alternatives, i.e. it is not possible to do more than one at the same time. A hint: if you find that you are recommending more than one of your alternatives, your thinking may have gone astray. The time available for each presentation will be from the start of class until the break. Time management is in the hands of the presenting group and excessively long or short presentations will be reflected in the grade assigned. Please allow a minimum of 10 minutes at the end of your presentation so that I can comment briefly on your performance. Grading of the presentation and Q&A segment will be based on the attached guideline (Appendix 1) which I and each of the other groups will complete for each presentation to yield a composite score: My score + average of other group scores = group presentation score. Group Assessment: Since the participation of non-presenting groups is crucial to the success of each case, part of your grade will depend on my assessment of the degree of preparation, quality of analysis and attendance of your group when it is not presenting. This is an “evaluation by exception” activity. If the majority of your group is in attendance, you appear to have read and discussed the case before coming to class and your responses show good understanding of the course material each time, you will get full marks. For each exception to these criteria, I will deduct marks. Course Outline: Jan 13 Organizations and Organization Theory Read: Chapter 1 Exercise: Words in Sentences Jan 20 Strategy, Organization Design and Effectiveness Read: Chapter 2 Fundamentals of Organization Structure Read: Chapter 3 Jan 27 Case: Faculty of Management The External Environment Read: Chapter 4 (Read in class) Feb 3 Case: The Paradoxical Twins Interorganizational Relationships Read: Chapter 5 (Group #1) Feb 10 Case: Oxford Plastics Company (Group #2) Designing Organizations for the International Environment Read: Chapter 6 *Hand out essay questions for mid term Feb 17 Reading Week Feb 24 Mid Term Exam: Mar 2 Return and review Mid Term results Manufacturing and Service Technologies Read: Chapter 7 Mar 9 Case: Acetate Department Information Technology and Control Read: Chapter 8 (Group #3) Mar 16 Case: Century Medical Organization Size, Life Cycle and Decline Read: Chapter 9 (Group #4) Mar 23 Case: Sunflower Incorporated Organizational Culture and Ethical Values Read: Chapter 10 (Group #5) Mar 30 Case: Does this Milkshake Taste Funny? Innovation and Change Read: Chapter 11 (Group #6) Apr 6 Case: Southern Discomfort Conflict, Power and Politics Read: Chapter 13 *Hand out essay questions for final (Group #7) Apr 13 Case: (Group #8) Tuesday, Feb 24th The Daily Tribune Appendix 1 PRESENTATION EVALUATION FORM DATE: CASE: GROUP: Scale: 1 = poor; 2 = barely adequate; 3 = average; 4 = very good; 5 = excellent 1. Were all group members introduced & given adequate roles? 12345 2. Was an overview of the presentation provided? 12345 3. Were the major issues of the case clearly identified and addressed? 12345 4. Did the group conduct / facilitate appropriate analyses? 12345 5. Did the group evaluate a range of mutually exclusive alternatives? 12345 6. Was a workable plan of action developed for implementation? 12345 7. How creative was the group’s portrayal of the background facts? 12345 8. Were presentation aids clear, informative and engaging? 12345 9. What was the quality of the group’s assigned questions? 12345 10. How well did the group work with the class for their Q&A session? 12345 Total Marks: Additional Comments: /50