CDAE 195/BADM 234
Organizational Behavior
Spring 2008
Thomas F. Patterson, Jr., Ph.D.
tpatters@uvm.edu
501.621.2093
webct.uvm.edu
CDAE 195 Organizational Behavior
INTRODUCTION
Our society is an organizational society. We are born in organizations, educated in
organizations, and most of us spend much of our lives working for organizations. We
spend much of our leisure time playing and praying in organizations. Most of us will die
in an organization, and when the time comes for burial, the largest organization of all -the state -- must grant official permission.
-- Amatai Etzioni, Modern Organizations (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice- Hall,
1964), p. 1.
Every aspect of our life is affected by organizations. Every facet of our life, such as work,
religion, education, family, entertainment, politics, takes place in or is regulated by, or is
the result of organizations and organizational actions. Even primitive man learned to
work together in groups, thus giving birth to organizations. Almost everyone, from
laborers to managers, from politicians to bishops, from entertainers to artists, works in
organizations.
-- Business World 4/10/07
People organize to do things that they can't do alone. Some scholars suggest that the
ability to form organizations is one of the greatest of all human accomplishments.
Societies and, in fact, ideologies, have prospered or languished based on their ability to
organize and get things done. There's no question that people working together in an
organizational setting have accomplished some incredible feats. How have people gotten
and stayed together to pull off these organizational deeds, and how does working in an
organization affect the individual? These are some of the questions we'll be exploring
this semester.
The purpose of this course is to provide you with fundamental knowledge and skills you
will need to understand, diagnose and manage organizational behavior -- human aspects
of work organizations. This will help you manage other people as well as yourself to be a
more effective co-worker, team member, and organizational citizen. There is a great deal
of reading for this class, a wealth of small group work, class discussions and activities,
group projects and student presentations, plus short lectures from your instructor.
Informal and formal feedback is especially encouraged and will be listened to carefully.
This course is organized around these three levels of focus: individuals, groups (or
teams), and organizations . We will start at the organizational level discussing history and
culture, which is the basis for much of what happens in organizations. We will then go
back to the individual level with topics such as personality, interpersonal perception,
values, ethics, and motivation, followed by how individuals fit together into groups and
teams. Finally, we will discuss organizational change, and examine how concepts at all
three levels fit together. This class will require you to apply your communication,
teamwork, critical thinking, and information synthesis skills in many different ways.
OBJECTIVES
Students will:
1. Gain an understanding of classical and contemporary organization theory and
behavior, and be able to translate and apply this understanding into practice (praxis).
3. Develop an appreciation and empathy of why people and groups in organizations feel
and behave as they do.
4. Increase their understanding of the role of scientific management and human resources
within an organization.
5. Be able to describe specific theories related to perception, motivation, leadership, job
design, and organizational change.
5. Learn how gender, race, nationality, and other cultural diversity dimensions influence
organizational behaviors and outcomes.
6. Be able to identify processes and methods that can improve the behavior and attitudes
of organizational members, and, thus, their effectiveness.
8. Be able to develop and enhance their personal skills as an organizational member and
manager.
9. Develop an individualized understanding of organizations through the development
and demonstration of personal learning objectives.
10. Develop an understanding of personal preferences within an organizational setting
based on the Myers-Briggs Type Inventory.
REQUIRED TEXTS
Kinicki, Angelo & Kreitner, Robert. Organizational Behavior, Key Concepts, Skills and
Best Practices, (McGraw-Hill: New York, NY), 2003.
Companion Website: http://www.mhhe.com/kinickiob
ACTIVITIES
1. Class Participation and attendance (20%): This class is a discussion class and
depends upon your contributions for all of us to learn. You will therefore be graded on
your class participation. Read the textbook and articles as assigned for each
organizational behavior topic and do your own research on the Internet. Come to class
prepared to discuss the readings and the topics at hand. Maintain an active and
thoughtful involvement in class discussions and other activities. Class contributions
requires that you are prepared for class, having read, researched and thought about the
class topics in advance, and are prepared to challenge the material, apply the material to
your own experiences, and to add to the discussions.
Assume leadership in class projects when appropriate. Bring in newspaper clippings,
articles, columns, cartoons, ideas, thoughts, etc. that pertain to our study of organizational
behavior to share with the rest of the class. Your success in this class is directly related to
the extent that you and others come to class prepared and ready to share your ideas.
Because class participation is so important to the discussions, class attendance is
important for your own learning and the learning of your classmates. More than two
absences will therefore affect your class participation grade. Please email me in advance
if you will need to miss a class. Consistent tardiness will affect your class participation
grade as well.
2. Personal Learning Reflections (20%): At least once a week, post your personal
reflections of this course, the topics we have covered, and other student reflections on the
WebCT discussion list. There should be a minimum of seven reflections, one for each
week. These postings should demonstrate a critical analysis of the organizational
behavior topics we have covered in class and your own personal self-assessment. This is
a chance for you to reflect upon and evaluate your own experiences, memories, values
and opinions in relation to a specific issue or topic, and give your personal response to
fellow learners. Remember, it is through personal reflection that learning takes place.
3. Persuasive Paper and Presentation (20%) You will prepare a short (3-4 page)
persuasive paper in which you attempt to convince your supervisor (hypothetical or real)
to take a particular action related to an organizational behavior topic. You will then give
an eight to ten minute persuasive presentation in class, assuming your audience is your
supervisor. Your topic can be related to issues we discuss in class, or it can be related to
another interest you have, as long as it is related to OB in some way.
Example paper topics:
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Choosing an effective team training program - why adventure learning is better
than classroom training
Employee benefits - more work/life balance programs are cost-effective
Our company must increase workplace diversity to be competitive
The culture on our organization must be changed to reflect today’s standards
We need different motivational incentives to attract and keep good people
Total Quality Management is not a fad, it is a paradigm shift we need to make
Paper topics must be approved by me no later than March 26th. Failure to do so will
result in deductions from your grade on the paper (1 point per day). Submitted paper
topics should include both the overall topic and the position you will be taking in the
paper. This will help provide you with a framework for the paper (although it is possible
that your position will change as you conduct more research on the topic). I will be
happy to meet with you to generate or discuss potential paper topics - please don't wait
until March 25th to think about this.
4. Group project--Organizational Analysis (30%): This is a major semester-long
project and a culminating event of the class. The size and number of groups will be
determined by the size of the class. Group composition is up to students. I want to meet
formally with each group and will be happy to serve as resource/consultant for you
throughout the duration of your project. Oral presentations will be scheduled during the
last week of the semester.
Study either a private, public or non-profit organization, or a subsystem of a larger
organization, e.g. a specific department. Choose a real organization of at least 10
employees, and enter into the organization to meet people, collect first-hand
organizational information through interviews, observations, organizational documents,
questionnaires, etc. Identify some specific organization issues that are pertinent to this
organization, and apply the concepts developed in the class to make diagnosis, analyses,
and give suggestions.
The purpose of your group is to fulfill the following specifications and to present your
findings in a half hour class presentation and a comprehensive written report. The report
is due the same day as your presentation.
A. Background: What is the history of the organization? Why and how was it
formed and how has it changed over the years? What is the current mission of the
organization? Has the mission changed since the organization was formed?
Describe the current organizational structure, culture and human resources of the
organization. What changes in the environment have affected the organization
throughout its history.
B. Inquiry: Select a research tool or lens to aid your organizational study. These
tools should be selected based on your initial analysis of the organization. For
example, if turnover and personnel issues dominate your organization, then you
will want to use human resources as an investigative lens. If you want to study the
total functioning of the organization, then you may want to use a systems approach
to inquiry. If you chose to study organizational leadership behavior, then a focus
on decision making may be in order. Justify your inquiry tool(s) selection -- why
did you chose this way of looking at your organization? What did you learn from
this approach? There should be a small literature review in your final paper to
convince the reader that you are familiar with the historical and current literature
on the research tool(s) you have chosen.
C. Findings and Recommendations: Discuss what you found – how your
organization looks under the research lens. What problems and opportunities did
your theoretical lens uncover? Finally, design a comprehensive action plan for
renewing and improving your organization. Discuss how you would implement it.
A written report of the Group Project of maximum 15 pages (not including cover page,
using Times New Roman, font size 12, double spaced) is to be submitted the day you
give your group oral report.
The Team Project report will be evaluated by the following criteria:
a. Clarity of writing and articulation and continuity of arguments.
b. Depth and completeness of observation and analysis.
c. Integrated understanding of key concepts and evidence of the group’s ability to
use them to analyze concrete organizational phenomena.
d. Organizational insights suggested to improve the organizational situation.
5. Final Exam (10%)
Summary of Activities and Grading Criteria
Activity
Class Participation and attendance
Personal Learning WebCT Reflections
Persuasive Paper and Presentation
Date Due
% of Final Grade
Every week
20%
Every week
20%
3/31 – 4/23
20%
Group Project—Organization Diagnosis
4/23
30%
Final Exam
4/28
10%
TOPIC GUIDELINES AND READINGS
Date Due
Major Topic
March 5, 12
History,
Scientific
Management,
Human
Resources
Personal -MBTI
March 17, 19
March 26
March 31, April 2
April 7, 9
April 14, 16
Groups –
Motivation,
Groups
April 28
Managing
Individuals
Chapters 4, 5
Groups,
Motivation
Diversity,
Leadership
Power,
Leadership
Chapters 3
Decision
making, Power,
Leadership
Culture,
TQM,
Chapters 9, 12,
13, 14
Organizational
Culture,
Evolving
Organizations
Group
Reflections
4/23
Paper due
4/23
Final Exam
Web Research
Assignments
Organizational
Behavior
WebCT Personal
Learning
Reflection
Chapter 1,
Chapters, 10, 6,
7, 8
Managing
People in a
Global
Economy
Future of
Organizations
April 21, 23
Kinick &
Kreitner
Reading
OB
Introduction
Chapters 2, 15,
16
Organizational
Analysis
Myers-Briggs
WebCT Personal
Type Indicator,
Learning
Human Relations Reflection
Small Group
Theory,
Motivation
Theory
WebCT Personal
Learning
Reflection
Managing
Diversity, World
Population
Statistics
WebCT Personal
Learning
Reflection,
Persuasive
Presentations
Decision
making, Power,
Leadership
WebCT Personal
Learning
Reflection,
Persuasive
Presentations
Organizational
Culture, Total
Quality
Management,
Future of
Organizations
WebCT Personal
Learning
Reflection,
Persuasive
Presentations
WebCT Personal
Learning
Reflection,
Persuasive
Presentations