PA 340: Administrative Behavior Fall 2013
Where and When: Calexico Campus Room N-101; M 4:10 – 6:50 p.m.
Professor: Kelley Crockett PhD.
Office: East Faculty Bldg Calexico Campus 109/ E-Mail: kcrockett@mail.sdsu.edu
Office hours: Tuesday ONLINE via Blackboard Collaborate 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 pm by appointment
Course Description and Purpose
This course introduces social, psychological, and behavioral theories of organizations. Concepts such as
administrative leadership, individual and group motivation, effective communication and managing conflict
are examined as behaviors that impact organizational outcomes.
Course Learning Objectives
Upon successfully completing this course students will have:
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Applied organizational behavior theories to workplace situations
Evaluated historical and current administrative behavior literature
Analyzed individual and group challenges to implementing organizational change
Role-played effective decision making techniques
Utilized critical thinking skills expressed through writing and discussion
Texts
There is one required text.
Denhardt, Robert and Denhardt, Janet & Aristigueta, Maria, Managing Human Behavior in Public and
Nonprofit Organizations, 2nd Edition, Sage Publications, 2009
Course Grading
Participation
Midterm
Reflection Papers (3@5pts ea)
Quizzes (3@5pts ea)
Team Blog Project
Final Paper
5%
20%
15%
15%
20%
25%
Course Requirements
Student preparation is mandatory. Students are expected to have read the chapter/reading assignments
before arriving to class. I do not accept late assignments but you may turn them in early. If you have a
problem with your computer during a quiz contact me immediately or just use the computers at the
University. Do not wait until after the due date and then try to either take a quiz or upload a paper. During
the first week you will have an assignment due on Blackboard so become familiar with it if you are not
already.
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Participation
Excessive absences, late arrivals or leaving early, lack of reading, lack of participation during class
discussions or distracting others will result in an inability to satisfactorily master the content of the class. I
do take roll and notice early leavers. If you have a schedule conflict that prohibits full engagement in
this class then I suggest you take it another semester.
How well students cooperate in the team project, attendance and timely execution of assignments are all
reflected in the participation grade. Students will have the opportunity to communicate how well their
teammate participated in the team project by filling out an evaluation sheet at the end of the semester.
Midterm Exam
The midterm exam will cover the material presented over the first part of the semester. The format is a
mix of short answer, multiple choice and true/false questions.
Reflection Papers
The 3 reflection papers are each 1 page double spaced typed papers that you will turn in online prior to
the class on the day they are due. In one page you will answer a question (on the syllabus) and discuss
the chapter in general IN YOUR OWN WORDS. You may discuss a personal experience that is on the
topic BUT to get a great grade you must incorporate some important points that you learned in the
chapter in your paper. The goal is to show me you have read and can apply that chapter’s information.
The format is 12 point font with 1 inch margins all around and ONLY one page.
Quizzes
The 3 quizzes are open book online but are NOT collaborative. The quizzes are intended to spot check
how well you have read the chapter. You will have 20 minutes to answer 5 true/false or multiple choice
questions. Questions are randomized and come from a bank of questions so there is no point in trying to
take it with someone else. The window to take the quiz will be the prior 24 hours before class and will only
be on that week’s material from the chapter.
Team Blog Project
There will be a sign up sheet online in the discussion section in Blackboard where you will pick which
topic you and your partner want to create a blog about. You may pick your own partner or just sign up for
the topic and I’ll put you with someone else who is interested in that topic. We have 10 topics and
approximately 45 students so there will only be 4 or 5 team sign ups available per topic. In other words,
not all 45 of you in teams of two can sign up to blog about “Stress” which always seems to be a popular
topic choice. Your blog is due on December 2. You will present it on either December 2 or 9.
A blog allows you to post comments over time like journal entries or to post a completed commentary all
at once. The idea is to add commentary, links to relevant news, visual aids and analysis that illustrate
important points about your topic. If, for example, you are doing a blog about workplace stress, it would
be perfectly appropriate to include a link to news stories that discuss a workplace shooting as well as
information that discusses how companies are increasing counseling as a preventive measure to
workplace violence. You may certainly use information out of the book and out of my lectures for your
blog but keep in the back of your mind that the more that is just copied and pasted without any kind of
explanation, link, visual aid, personal analysis or commentary the lower the grade will be. One way to
present your blog about your topic is to look at what both positive and negative outcomes look like. For
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example, if you have “Decision Making” as your topic you might point out what the consequences might
be if there are or are not specific procedures put in place that make sure more folks have the opportunity
to contribute to the decision making process.
Final Paper
Students will be responsible for a five to seven page paper (including cover page and reference page)
that discusses a topic pertinent to administrative behavior (also called organizational behavior). Students
must reference a peer reviewed journal article at least once in their paper. Government reports,
newspaper articles and other source documents may be used as additional resources but may not be
used instead of the journal article. The journal article and your topic area (include your name as well)
must be uploaded to the discussion thread in Blackboard that says “Research Paper Topics” for approval
by the instructor no later than September 30, 2013. Late or a non peer reviewed journal article submitted
after September 30, 2013 could result in a letter grade deduction on the final paper. Due November 25.
Use APA style and cite references at the end of the sentence like (Denhardt, 2009 p 27). Be sure to cite
every quote and be careful not to overuse quoted material. This is not a summary of either the book or
the journal article either but a research paper that addresses some topic of administrative behavior you
find interesting.
An examination of a topic relevant to administrative behavior should include: a discussion of the literature
regarding the topic and whether this is either an ongoing problem or a new emerging issue along with
projections of what future challenges may come out of the problem if not addressed. Further conversation
may include how federal or state policies affect your topic, problem or issue and who is or should be
responsible for correcting the problem.
Higher points will be given to those papers that reflect:
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An analysis of the problem, issue or topic with examples that support and justify your points.
Discussion that integrates a researched journal article and the textbook.
Adherence to the format of no more than five to seven pages long, double spaced using 12 pt
font with 1 inch margins all around.
Use of academic language, grammar, vocabulary and third person narrative (NO use of
“I”), this is a research paper NOT a personal narrative.
Accommodations
Students who need accommodations of their disabilities should contact me privately to discuss specific
accommodations for which they have received authorization. If you have a disability please contact me
after you have contacted the Student Disability Services at 760.768.5509.
Course Outline and Reading Schedule
August 26: Module 1: Introduction to Administrative Behavior and Organization Behavior as a way
of thinking and acting
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Read text pp 1-15
Syllabus review
Professor Lecture
Sept 02: Holiday, No Class
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Sept 09: Module 2: Knowing and Managing Yourself; Vision and Values and Communication
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Read text pp 17-54 and pp 237-278
Professor Lecture available online after 3 pm
Reflection paper #1 Due by 3 pm in Blackboard: How do you communicate that you know and
actively support fulfillment of your own goals and the professional goals of others you work with?
In class exercise, what are Stuart Gelles’ Be-er, Do-er and Dream-er types of people?
Sept 16: Module 3: Fostering Creativity
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Read text pp 55-81
Professor Lecture
Sept 23: Module 4: Managing Stress
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Read text pp 83-110
Professor Lecture available online after 3 pm
Reflection paper #2 Due by 3 pm in Blackboard: How does your general attitude and behavior
in response to stress affect the public workplace?
Sept 30: Module 5: Decision Making
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Read text pp 111-140
Professor Lecture
In Class Project
Peer Reviewed Journal Article Due by 3 pm in Blackboard
Oct 7: Module 6: Motivation ***Class work is ONLINE tonight, we will not meet****
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Read text pp 141-166
Professor Lecture available online after 3 pm
Reflection paper #3 Due by 3 pm in Blackboard: How can a public agency increase motivation
in all its employees?
Oct 14: Module 7: Leadership in Public Organizations
 Read text pp 167-205
 Professor Lecture
Oct 21: Module 8: Power and Organizational Politics
 Read text pp 207-236
 Professor Lecture
 Millionaire Game review for Midterm Exam
Oct 28: Midterm Exam
Nov 04: Module 9: Managing Conflict
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Read text pp 311-333
Professor Lecture
Online Quiz #1 Take it between 3 pm Nov 03 and 3pm Nov 04
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Nov 11: HOLIDAY ****No Class***
Nov 18: Module 10: Working in Groups and Teams
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Read pp 279-308
Professor Lecture
In Class Project
Online Quiz #2 Take it between 3 pm Nov 17 and 3 pm Nov 18
Nov 25: Module 11: Organizational Change
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Read text pp 335-372
Professor Lecture
Online Quiz #3 Take it between 3 pm Nov 24 and 3 pm Nov 25
In class group exercise Case Study No 2 pp 371-372
Research Paper Due by 2 pm in Blackboard
Dec 2: Module 12: Representing the Organization and Ethics
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Read text pp 373-416
Professor Lecture
Blog Presentations
Blogs All are due by 3 pm in Blackboard
Dec 9: Blog Presentations
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