Brock University
Faculty of Business
MBAB5P04 – section 6
Course Outline
Days:
Thursday (11.00 – 14.00)
Course Location:
GSB310
Start Date:
September 7
Course Instructor:
Dr. Dave Bouckenooghe
Telephone:
(905) 688 5550 ext. 3901
Contact by E-mail:
dbouckenooghe@brocku.ca
COURSE DESCRIPTION
The primary objective of this course is to provide an understanding of the
micro aspects of formal organizations from a behavioral perspective.
Organizational behavior is a field of study that investigates the impact that
individuals, groups, and structure have on behavior within organizations, for
the purpose of applying such knowledge toward improving an
organization’s effectiveness. This course focuses on such topics as
personality, motivation, leadership skills, group structure and dynamics, job
design, decision making, organizational culture, and change. The main
purpose of this course is to offer you in-depth understanding of key theories
of OB with an emphasis on how to improve Human Resource Management
decisions.
The learning in this course will occur through a blend of methods including
lectures, case studies, discussions, course assignments, computer
simulations, group projects and virtual presentations.
SUGGESTED COURSE MATERIAL
Readings will be listed in Brightspace
Essentials of Organizational Behavior 4.0. Published by FlatWorld.
Authors: Bauer & Erdogan.
Is made available through Campus Store.
Last selling price: $35.95
COURSE FORMAT
The classes have an interactive-lecture format including the use of different
pedagogical methods (lectures, simulations, case studies, movies, etc.).
You may be asked to read, reflect upon and analyze a variety of
assignments and cases in order to be prepared to discuss them in class.
Note that Brightspace will include recorded videos in case you would miss a
class.
The modules around which the course will be built are:
Course theme
1. Intro to OB
2. Organizational Development and Service Learning Example
3. OB as a Scientific Discipline
4. Individual Differences
5. Creativity as Extra-Role Behavior and Basis for Innovation
6. Individual and Organizational Decision-Making/Negotiation/Handling conflict
7. Motivation
8. The world of OB and HR analytics: The Future of OBHRM (possible guest speaker)
9. Organizational Culture/Structure
10. Leadership and Change
In addition to in-person lectures, several of the above listed course themes
will have asynchronous material listed in Brightspace. Where can you find
this material in Brightspace? Choose the course site within Brightspace.
Next, on top of your screen you will see a menu with a tab called ‘content’.
Please click on content and the asynchronous part of the lectures will
appear on the left of your screen. Make sure you familiarize yourself with
the menus in Brightspace.
SUGGESTED READINGS
Excellent course notes should be sufficient to be well prepared for both
progress tests that will be held in class. Occasionally I may suggest extra
discussion material that will be posted in Brightspace.
COURSE OBJECTIVES
1) Applying OB knowledge in HRM context.
2) Develop basic understanding of core concepts in OB (personality, creativity,
motivation, etc.).
3) Understanding how to collect OB/HR data in a reliable and valid way.
4) Provide insights on how to make more effective decisions individually and
collectively.
5) Become a better negotiator and deal with inter/intrapersonal conflict
6) Offer insight into the creation and managing part of organizational cultures.
7) Presents an overview of planned change models (seven-step model Kotter,
Lewin’s three step model, and ways to manage organizational change).
8) Recognizing the growing importance of Big Data in OB and the role of OB/HR
analytics
9) Discusses the role of leadership in times of change.
RULES OF CONDUCT
1. Keep up to date. Make sure that you know the class schedule (see
overview important dates at the end of this course outline)
2. Check your calendar and announcements in Brightspace for the
deadlines of all your assignments/tasks
3. Please adopt netiquette when communicating with your peers and
instructors (e.g. discussion forums, emails, etc.)
4. In case of questions regarding the course please contact the instructor
(Dave Bouckenooghe) who will attempt to address your questions within
24-48 hours. Note that during weekends the instructor will not reply to
your questions until the beginning of the work week.
5. Any form of plagiarism or academic misconduct for any of your
assignments will not be tolerated and will be checked using Turnitin
software.
COURSE EVALUATION
While I appreciate that you are here to learn and thus intrinsically motivated, we
still need to have some external way of assessing your progress. So, in order to
make us both feel we have accomplished something during our time in class we
must have some form of assessment. As such we will have the following:
a) Progress tests
45%
b) Coursework
10%
c) Service-learning project
25%
d) Contribution/participation
10%
e) Simulations
10%
Breakdown of course evaluation in detail:
a) Progress tests (45%)
There will be two tests that will be held in class (October 19 and November
16). In case of failure to write the test on the scheduled date make sure you
produce a valid reason within three days after the scheduled test date.
Failure to produce valid proof of absence within the three-day deadline will
exclude you from the possibility of writing a make-up test and default into
zero for that test. More information about the tests will be announced later.
b) Coursework (10%)
For several modules you will be asked to solve assignments (individual or
group). You will get a minimum of three assignments. In case you miss
more than two assignments you will automatically default to zero for
coursework assignments. Note that all assignments will be checked for
plagiarism. In case you have been found to plagiarize in any of the hand-in
assignments, we will apply Brock’s policy accordingly (see later).
c) Service learning project (25%)
You will work in groups of maximum 7 people to prepare and support an
actual company in preparing a plan for dealing with an OB/HR challenge.
This exercise will consist of a written report, a 7-minute progress
presentation and a final 15-minute group presentation. The assignment is
worth 25% of your final grade, and all group members will receive the same
grade unless they demonstrate that they did not participate in the process
through the content or reporting by their teammates.
Grades will be based upon two criteria: (1) 15% is based upon the quality of
the report. Your group’s objective is to present a detailed diagnosis of how
the organization, with its distinct capabilities should navigate its
organizational resources (e.g., intellectual capital, social capital, knowledge,
etc.) to deal effectively with the OB/HR challenge that was selected. (2)
10% of the mark for this assignment is based on two presentations. The
first presentation is scheduled for October 26 the final presentation is due
November 30. The first presentation should be maximum 7 minutes in
length, while the final presentation to your client should be approximately
15 minutes. Please note that the final report is due November 30.
The client (TBD) will present their case in week 2 (September 14)
Next, we outline the detailed instructions for the (1) the presentations and
(2) the report, followed by a brief introduction of the importance of making a
team contract for this assignment.
Instructions for progress and final presentations
1. Deadlines:
A. Deadline for progress presentation is October 30 (present in person).
B. Deadline for final presentation is December 4 (present in person).
2. Length of presentations:
A. The progress presentation should be between 5-7 minutes.
B. The final presentation should be between 12-15 minutes.
3. Number of people presenting:
A. The progress presentation should be no more than 3 people presenting
B. The final presentation should be no more than 4 people presenting
4. Focus of presentations:
A. Progress presentation:
Part 1: Brief introduction of the case. Your introduction should begin with a
description of the organization. Clarify the purpose of this SL project.
Part 2: Based on the information presented by the community partner as
well as your own independent research, your group is asked to identify and
present the key challenge(s) or issue(s) currently facing the organization. In
particular, you are asked to provide rationale for why your team has chosen
to focus on these specific issue(s). Consider explaining the importance of
the issue(s) and how the issue(s) may affect other individuals, functions, or
processes within the organization. Note that it is also important to identify
and consider what is going well in the organization. In essence, you are
asked to explain the issue, describe why it is a concern for the organization,
and identify the stakeholders affected.
B. Final presentation:
Part 1: Brief description and explanation why you decided to focus on the
identified key challenge(s).
Part 2: Discuss the alternative solutions you identified. Briefly present the
major arguments for and against each alternative (pros and cons). Be sure
to state your assumptions and the impact of constraints on each alternative.
Part 3: Identify recommendations including the logic that led you to select
particular solution(s). Briefly discuss the reasons you rejected the other
alternatives. Recommendations should be detailed. Speak to how you
suggest each issue should be addressed as well as how each proposed
solution should be implemented. Your recommendations should focus
primarily on the OB elements of the issues at hand, however, recognizing
that Human Resource Management does not occur in a vacuum, you are
also encouraged to discuss how your proposed suggestions may affect
other business functions as well as how problems that are not directly OB
issues may have an impact on employees within the organization.
Part 4: Outline a plan of action that will lead to effective implementation of
the proposed recommendations. Be sure to articulate short and long term
solutions.
Part 5: Provide a brief summary of your report. Concluding insights may
refer to issues not discussed in the report that your team would like to
highlight for future consideration.
5. Also consider the following:
Your team must present your analysis and recommendations to the
community partner in an engaging, professional and creative way. You will
be graded as a team.
Instructions final report
Deadline: November 30 (before 11.55pm)
Submit under assignments in Brightspace (‘final report’) – report to be
submitted by team lead
A. Total page requirement
A minimum of 12 pages and no more than 17 pages. Additional
attachments are welcomed but are not counted towards this page count.
Page count does not include cover page, table of contents or reference
page.
Please note: The recommended pages are not set in stone. It all depends
on what you do with the required components. Hence, the structure offered
gives you a general guideline in case you are uncertain on how to proceed
with this assignment.
Introduction and the purpose of the report (1 page). The introduction should
be written addressing the community partner. Your introduction should
begin with a description of the organization. Clarify the purpose of your
report, how it is organized and the key issues your team will address in the
report.
OB Analysis – Identifying key issues/challenges (3 pages). Based on the
information presented by the community partner as well as your own
independent research, your group is asked to identify approximately the key
challenge(s) or issue(s) currently facing the organization. In particular, you
are asked to provide rationale for why your team has chosen to focus on
these specific issue(s). Consider explaining the importance of the issue(s)
and how the issue(s) may affect other individuals, functions, or processes
within the organization. Note that it is also important to identify and consider
what is going well in the organization. In essence, you are asked to explain
the issue, describe why it is a concern for the organization, and identify the
stakeholders affected.
Alternatives (2 pages). Discuss relevant alternative solutions. Briefly
present the major arguments for and against each alternative (pros and
cons). Be sure to state your assumptions and the impact of constraints on
each alternative.
Recommendations (3 pages). Identify recommendations including the logic
that led you to select particular solution(s). Briefly discuss the reasons you
rejected the other alternatives. Identify how the organization should
approach each of the issues identified in the OB Analysis section. Be sure
to consider the contextual information you have been given about the
community partner (through community partner visits and independent
research). Recommendations should be detailed. Speak to how you
suggest each issue should be addressed as well as how each proposed
solution should be implemented. Your recommendations should focus
primarily on the OB elements of the issues at hand, however, recognizing
that Human Resource Management does not occur in a vacuum, you are
also encouraged to discuss how your proposed suggestions may affect
other business functions as well as how problems that are not directly OB
issues may have an impact on employees within the organization.
Implementation and Evaluation (2 pages). Outline a plan of action that will
lead to effective implementation of the proposed recommendations. Be sure
to articulate short and long term solutions.
Conclusion (1 page). Provide a brief summary of your report. Discuss the
main challenges your team has identified, how you have proposed to
address those issues and any concluding insights. Concluding insights may
refer to issues not discussed in the report that your team would like to
highlight for future consideration.
B. Questions you may have about references
Make sure you only include reputable sources to support the key issues,
recommendations, implementation and evaluation described in your report.
Also, keep in mind that you are not writing an academic journal article, so
please avoid the use jargon of in your report. In case of referencing please
follow APA guidelines.
C. Layout and proof-reading
Times Roman 12 font, 1” margins, and double spaced.
You are expected to proof-read your work for spelling and grammar. Your
work should be well written and follow a logical flow.
D. Additional considerations when preparing the report:
1. Do you adequately understand the OB related issues facing the
community partner organization? Did you thoroughly consider relevant
information including important aspects of the organization’s internal and
external circumstances?
2. Have you appropriately determined and provided rationale for
identifications of the key challenge(s)?
3. Is your analysis deep enough? Does your analysis go into sufficient
depth to identify and deal with the critical challenge(s), or is your analysis
superficial and trivial?
4. Have you used theories and concepts from this (and other) classes in
making your analysis? Are you trying to get by on your intuition and
common sense alone or can you use theories, research, and concepts from
the human resources literature to improve your analysis?
5. Have you used the information available to you creatively? Have you
integrated different pieces of information to come up with new insights into
the situation, or have you merely followed a formula and repeated what was
already stated in the case?
6. Have you presented your analysis and recommendations in a literate and
effective manner? Is your report well written and does it communicate
clearly?
7. Is the implementation reasonable?
The importance of a team contract in service learning:
Before your team will be able to start working on this assignment you will
have to write up a team contract that contains the following elements:
1. establishing team procedures
2. identifying expectations
3. specifying the consequences for failing to follow these procedures and
fulfil these expectations
Since the basic purpose of this team contract is to accelerate your team's
development, to increase individual accountability for team tasks, and to
reduce the possibility for team conflict, make your contract as specific as
possible: (a) specify each task as detailed as possible, (b) specify each
step in a procedure or process as detailed as possible, (c) specify the exact
person(s) responsibility for each specific task, and (d) specify the exact time
and exact place for completion or submission of each task. The more
specifically you describe your team expectations, roles, and procedures, the
greater chance you have for a successful team experience. Clarity about
expectations will be essential because they ensure a smooth and
successful realization of the project. Although the barrier for social loafing
has lowered because of the distance learning aspect of the course, as an
instructor I will not hesitate to take action against those individuals who
believe that they can get away with this unprofessional behavior.
d) Participation (10%)
To encourage participation and discussion up to 10 marks will be awarded
for active participation during lectures. You must actively take part in
discussions and bring your own personal work experiences when relevant.
If you are shy to speak up or share your reflections in front of the class I
provide you with an alternative to earn your participation marks.
I have set up discussion forums in Brightspace. This tool will allow you to
share your thoughts, reflections, insights, comments, experiences regarding
the content addressed in this course. Your level of activity and quality of
contribution in the discussion forums will count towards participation and
compensate for the fact if you were not involved in classroom discussions.
However, keep in mind that a successful experience using discussion
forums is also dependent on following some clear rules. Please find these
rules enclosed for your reference. The discussion forum will be closed on
November 28, 2023. After this date you won’t be able to make any posts in
the discussion forums.
Golden rules for a successful discussion forum experience
1. Before posting your question to a discussion board, check if anyone has
asked it already and received a reply. Just as you wouldn’t repeat a topic
of discussion right after it happened in real life, don’t do that in discussion
forums either.
2. Stay on topic – Don’t post irrelevant links, comments, thoughts, or
pictures.
3. Don’t type in ALL CAPS! If you do, it will look like you’re screaming.
4. Don’t write anything that sounds angry or sarcastic, even as a joke,
because without hearing your tone of voice, your peers might not realize
you’re joking. In other words, be careful with using humor.
5. Always remember to say “Please” and “Thank you” when soliciting help
from your classmates.
6. Respect the opinions of your classmates. If you feel the need to disagree,
do so respectfully and acknowledge the valid points in your classmate’s
argument. Acknowledge that others are entitled to have their own
perspective on the issue.
7. If you reply to a question from a classmate, make sure your answer is
accurate! If you’re not 100% sure when the assignment is due, DO NOT
GUESS! Otherwise, you could really mess things up for your classmates
and they will not appreciate it.
8. If you ask a question and many people respond, summarize all answers
and post that summary to benefit your whole class.
9. Be brief. If you write a long dissertation in response to a simple question,
it’s unlikely that anyone will spend the time to read through it all.
10. Don’t badmouth others or call them stupid. You may disagree with their
ideas, but don’t mock the person.
11. If you refer to something your classmate said earlier in the discussion,
quote just a few key lines from their post so that others don’t have to go
back and figure out which post you’re referring to.
12. Check the most recent comments before you reply to an older comment,
since the issue might have already been resolved or opinions may have
changed.
13. Be forgiving. If your classmate makes a mistake, don’t badger him or her
for it. Just let it go – it happens to the best of us.
14. Run a spelling and grammar check before posting anything to the
discussion forum. It only takes a minute.
RULE OF THUMB: If you wouldn’t do or say something in real life, don’t do
it online either.
e) Simulations (10%)
You will play two computer simulations that will test your ability as a team to
make decisions under pressure (Leadership and Team simulation: Everest)
and your change management skills (Change management: power and
influence).
Get access and register for both games using the following link:
https://hbsp.harvard.edu/import/1085120
The total cost for both licenses is US$30.
The deadline for signing up for these simulations is September 23, 2023
Simulation game 1 – Leadership and team simulation: Everest V3
This computer simulation presents a series of problem-solving and
decision-making challenges as a team. The simulation story line involves a
challenging expedition toward the summit of Mt. Everest. Although no
specific preparation is required for this computer simulation, the knowledge
you acquired about teamwork, leadership and decision making will be very
helpful in order to have a successful experience. The total time to play the
simulation takes on average 90 minutes. Some teams require more time
others less. You will be playing this simulation as a team (I will randomly
assign you to teams) on October 26.
Simulation game 2 – Change management: power and influence V3
In this second simulation, students play one of two roles (i.e., CEO or
Director of Product Innovation) at a sunglass manufacturing firm and face
the challenges associated with implementing an organization-wide
environmental sustainability initiative. The simulation includes four
scenarios with different combinations of two important factors for creating
change: (1) the relative power of the change agent and, (2) the relative
urgency to produce results associated with the change initiative. In each
scenario, students choose among different change levers in an attempt to
persuade key members of the organization to adopt the change initiative.
You will be playing this simulation on November 23. Note that this
simulation is an individual assignment, so you will not be part of any team
for this simulation.
CODE OF ACADEMIC INTEGRITY (BROCK POLICY)
Students should familiarize themselves with the notion of academic
integrity. Please consult the following link to get more familiar with the
notions
of
‘plagiarism’
and
‘academic
misconduct’
(https://brocku.ca/academic-integrity/).
Below you find a brief overview of what academic integrity implies based on
Brock policy:
What does it mean to study with integrity?
The Brock University Faculty of Graduate Studies supports graduate
students in their pursuit of a higher standard of scholarship, teaching and
research. Academic integrity means upholding a strong personal and
professional ethic within our own work, and that of our colleagues. In
upholding the principles of academic integrity, graduate students are
expected to demonstrate respect and acknowledgement of others’ words
and ideas when conducting research, writing, publishing, and teaching.
What is plagiarism?
Plagiarism is submitting material, in whole or in part, that is not your own
work without citing the source. Plagiarism can occur in writing, art, music,
computer codes, mathematics and scientific work.
Is paraphrasing plagiarism?
No. But you need to do more than just use a thesaurus to substitute words.
Find the main ideas and rewrite them in your own words. You still must cite
the source in the body of your assignment and in a reference list.
What constitutes cheating?
Deceptively trying to improve your performance on a piece of academic
work by receiving credit in a dishonest way, constitutes cheating. Cheating
behaviours are amongst the most egregious forms of academic misconduct
and may include: lying, copying from another’s work/exam,
discussing/circulating answers of an exam without permission; writing
another person’s work/exam for them; stealing a copy of an
exam/assignment or using unauthorized informational devices without
permission.
What is inappropriate collaboration?
Unless your instructor has given explicit permission for you to work with
other students, you should complete the assignments on your own.
Inappropriate collaboration can include dividing questions among group
members, posting answers online, sharing research sources and ideas, and
using previous years’ labs or assignments for guidance. If you have
questions about your assignments, see your instructor for clarification.
What is data falsification?
A fundamental principle of research integrity is treating data (yours, a
colleague’s or a supervisor’s) with scholarly rigor, respect and
acknowledgement. Misrepresenting research results, altering processes or
manipulating material to better suit your goal rather than reflect the honest
findings are examples of data falsification and are considered fraudulent
behaviour.
What is fabrication?
At the graduate level, students are expected to conduct research, report
findings and present information with the use of rigorous methods,
procedures and analysis. Making up data/results and then reporting them
as authentic, is fabrication. Inserting references where they do not belong
to appear as though your work/theory is more widely accepted than it is, is
another form of fabrication that violates research integrity.
Why can’t I submit my own work for another assignment?
While the work is your own, you have already received credit for it and
cannot submit it for credit in additional courses. You are not demonstrating
what you have learned as part of the process of learning.
How do I safeguard my own work?
Keep copies and drafts of your work that are time stamped. Use a
password on your documents and your computer. Never leave your work in
public places.
Important dates to keep in mind [subject to possible changes]
Date
Thursday, September 7
Thursday, September 14
Thursday, September 21
Thursday, September 28
Time
11.0014.00
11.0014.00
Course
Week 1
11.0014.00
Week 3
11.0014.00
Week 2
Week 4
Description of course
Expectations – course outline
Intro to OB (chapter 1)
Organizational Development + Service Learning
(chapter 2)
Introduction SL case
OB as a scientific discipline (chapter 3)
Individual differences (Chapter 4)
Follow-up Q&A with SL partner (virtual or oncampus)
Creativity as extra-role behaviour and the basis for
innovation (Chapter 5)
Individual and organizational decisionmaking/Negotiation/Handling conflict (chapter 6)
Thursday, October 5
11.0014.00
Week 5
Thursday, October 19
11.0014.00
Week 6
Motivation (chapter 7)
Progress test 1
Thursday, October 26
11.0014.00
Week 7
Progress presentation Service learning
Thursday, November 2
11.0014.00
Week 8
Simulation Everest
The world of OBHRM analytics (Chapter 8)
Thursday, November 9
11.0014.00
Week 9
Culture/Structure (chapter 9)
Leadership & Change (chapter 10)
Thursday, November 16
11.0014.00
Week 10
Progress test 2
Thursday, November 23
11.0014.00
Week 11
Simulation on power and change
Thursday, November 30
11.0014.00
Week 12
Service learning presentations