University of Illinois at Chicago
College of Nursing
MGMT 541 Organizational Behavior
Fall 2004 Syllabus
Faculty: JoAnn Becker, M.S., M.B.A., PMP
Visiting Professor/Adjunct Professor
Office Hours:
By appointment
Mobile phone 847-682-5665 (can call 7 days, 7:30 a.m. til 10:00 p.m.)
Fax: 321-600-6213
Jbecker1@gsbalum.uchicago.edu
UIC email address forthcoming
www.JoAnnBecker.com
Course Description: A comprehensive, reality-based review of organizational behavior
that is based upon a three-level model of analysis – the individual, the group, and the
organization system. The goal of this course is to prepare you to notice, explain, and
predict behaviors in your organization of individuals, groups and the enterprise; and
then to apply analytical thinking when participating and leading change of behaviors
of individuals, groups or teams and portions of or the entire organization. The
instructor’s personal principles of teaching are that you: 1) Learn new material, 2) Think
about what you know and incorporate the new learnings, and 3) Apply all that you
learn to you personally and to your real-life circumstances.
Day/Time/Location: Monday, 4:00-8:00pm, Room 181 College of Nursing
Polycom to Regions
Credit:
4 graduate semester credit hours
Prerequisites: Graduate student standing
Learning Objectives:
1. Examine the basic concepts of organizational behavior to prepare student to
explain and predict behaviors in organizations.
2. Analyze behavior with the three-level model of individual, group and
organizational system.
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3. Examine individual, group and organizational performance from the stand point
of values, motivation, decision making, power and politics, conflict and
organizational change.
4. Assess individual traits in personality and leadership to gain increased capability
to participate in organizational change.
5. Analyze student’s current organization for anticipated change using the models
and paradigms gain throughout the course.
Required Course Textbook:
Organizational Behavior (2003). Stephen P. Robbins, including CD entitled The Self
Assessment Library: Insights into Your Skills, Abilities and Interests (Versions 2.0)
Books for Additional Reading as interested (most comments from Amazon Editorial
Reviews unless otherwise noted):
Goleman, Daniel. (1995). Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More than IQ. New
York, New York: Bantam Books. The author does not state that IQ does not matter, he
simply points out that to succeed in the world you need more than just pure reason.
Perhaps the ideal is a person with both high intelligence and great interpersonal skills
such as someone like Carl Sagan, but I think he is correct in stating that a person with
average intelligence and good people skills will go farther than a person with high
intelligence and no ability to lead others effectively.
Coleman, Daniel (1998). Working with Emotional Intelligence. New York, New York:
Bantam Books. Why should executives bother with this soft stuff? According to
research cited by Goleman almost all of the abilities that distinguished stars from
average performers were emotional competencies. While pattern recognition and "big
picture" thinking were correlated with outstanding performance, cognitive abilities in
general - above a certain threshold - did not have significant correlation. "Emotional
intelligence" refers to a set of competencies that characterizes how people manage
feelings, interact, and communicate. Building on previous work by others, Goleman
characterizes emotional intelligence as being founded on five personal and social
competencies: Self-Awareness, Self-Regulation, Motivation, Empathy, and Social Skills.
Each of these five is further analyzed into 12 personal and 13 social competencies such
as Accurate Self-Assessment, Self-Control, Initiative, Developing Others, Influence,
Conflict Management, and Building Bonds.
Greene, Robert (1998). The 48 Laws of Power. New York, New York: Penguin Books.
"Learning the game of power requires a certain way of looking at the world, a shifting
of perspective," writes Robert Greene. Mastery of one's emotions and the arts of
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deception and indirection are, he goes on to assert, essential. The 48 laws outlined in
this book "have a simple premise: certain actions always increase one's power ... while
others decrease it and even ruin us."
Kroeger, Otto and Thuesen, Janet M. (1988). Type Talk: The 16 Personality Types that
Determine How We Live Love, and Work. New York, New York: Bantam. From a reader:
Through management and leadership corporate training I have done many self analysis
personality/behavior type tests. By far the most accurate and widely applicable ( i.e.,
applies at home and at work) is the Myers Brig Type Indicator ( MBTI) test. If you do
that test first then this book is an invaluable resource to help you understand your own
preferences and those of others whose type you know. If you have not done the MBTI
test, the book still has good value in making you think about yourself and your
interaction with other people and the world around you, however you will always be
guessing your type so it will be less useful even though the book gives good guidelines
on guessing your type. I am an ENTJ for the record.
Kroeger, Otto and Thuesen, Janet M. (1988). Type Talk at Work: How the 16 Personality
Types Determine Your Success on the Job. New York, New York: Bantam. From the
Publisher: With this revolutionary look at understanding the workplace and thriving in
it, you can learn to be more effective on the job and get the most out of your employees-and employers--using the authors' renowned system of typography.
Lewin, Roger and Regine, Birute (2000). The Soul at Work: Embracing Complexity Science
for Business Success. New York, New York: Simon Schuster. Thomas Petzinger, Jr.: …a
manifesto for the power of values and relationships in business. It is also a practical
guide to navigating the new economy and managing today’s fiercely independent
workers. Every page glitters with insights and inspiration.
O’Toole, James (1996). Leading Change: The Argument for Values-Based Leadership. New
York, New York: Jossey-Bass Inc. From Robert Morris: It is extremely difficult to
overcome what James O'Toole calls "the ideology of comfort and the tyranny of
custom." In Leading Change O'Toole explains the causes of resistance. Only by
understanding those causes can a leader overcome them. O'Toole insists that
organizations and their leaders must not simply change to accommodate new realities.
To do so would merely be expediency. Also, such accommodation could create other
(perhaps even more painful) new realities Organizations must transform themselves
constantly and effectively while, and here is a key point, sustaining certain nonnegotiable core values.
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Petzinger, Thomas Jr. (1999). The New Pioneers: The Men and Women Who Are
Transforming the Workplace and Marketingplace. New York, New York: Simon Schuster.
Thomas Petzinger brings alive the people who are leading a revolution in American
business. Petzinger contends that fundamental changes in the U.S. economy are being
spurred by technology that obliterates old boundaries as well as new freedoms in the
workplace and the efforts of entrepreneurs with a zeal for innovation and customer
service. "We can't yet see it everywhere, but a great awakening is now under way in
business," he writes. A columnist for The Wall Street Journal, Petzinger spent three years
traveling across America to interview management gurus and businesspeople at the
forefront of this economic seachange. He discovered that large and small businesses
alike are succeeding by abandoning the old command-and-control ethos.
Pritchett, Price and Pound, Ron (1994). Business as UnUsual: The Handbook for Managing
and Supervising Organizational Change. Dallas, Texas: Quicksilver Press. Designed for
managers, this insightful handbook contains 27 specific guidelines on retaining good
employees, maintaining morale in the face of change, and attaining the performance
results a manager expects from his or her work group. Business as UnUsual teaches
managers how to become a change agent, rebuild morale, pass out "psychological
paychecks", re-recruit good people, take care of "me" issues, ride "close herd" on
transition and change, and avoid common pitfalls in times of change. J. Becker: Good
basic list of 27 guidelines to follow.
Senge, Peter M. (1990). The Fifth Discipline: The Art & Practice of the Learning Organization.
New York, New York: Doubleday. From an inspired reader: Senge's main thesis is that
for an organization to become a Learning organization, it must embrace five disciplines:
1) Building Shared Vision so that the organization may build a common commitment to
long term results and achievement.
2) Mental models are a technique that can be used to foster creativity as well as
readiness and openness to change and the unexpected.
3) Team Learning is needed so that the learning is passed on from the individuals to
teams (i.e. the organization as a whole).
4) Personal Mastery is the individual's motivation to learn and become better (hence the
term Mastery).
5) The fifth discipline is that of Systems Thinking which allows to see a holistic systemic
view of the organization as a function of its environment.
However, this is not simply a book about management practice. though it was written
primarily for the use managers. This is a book about growth, improvement and
continuous development. J. Becker: provides a very replicable model for understand
how changes ripple throughout an organization, even the very small ones. And, that
one must give time to let that happen before introducing more change.
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Wheatley, Margaret J. (1994). The Leadership and the New Science: Learning about
Organization from an Orderly Universe. San Francisco, California: Berrett-Koehler
Publishers, Inc. From Howard Rothman: When Margaret J. Wheatley's Leadership and
the New Science was initially published in 1992, it outlined an unquestionably unique
but extremely challenging view of change, leadership, and the structure of groups.
Many readers immediately embraced its cutting-edge perspective, but others just could
not understand how the complicated scientific tenets it described could be used to
reshape institutions. Now Wheatley, an organizational specialist who has since
coauthored A Simpler Way, updates the original by including additional material (such
as an epilogue addressing her personal experiences during the past decade) and
reconstructing some of her more challenging concepts. The result is a much clearer
work that first explores the implications of quantum physics on organizational practice,
then investigates ways that biology and chemistry affect living systems, and finally
focuses on chaos theory, the creation of a new order, and the manner that scientific
principles affect leadership. "Our old ways of relating to each other don't support us
any longer," she writes. "It is up to us to journey forth in search of new practices and
new ideas that will enable us to create lives and organizations worthy of human
habitation." J. Becker: This one is heavy reading, where Margaret makes you really
think about what she presents.
Books for Optional Reading as interested:
Miller, Robert B. and Williams, Gary A. (2004). The 5 Paths to Persuasion: The Art of
Selling Your Message. Warner Business Books. Explores such topics as how people
make decisions as a process and how different from the personality type of decision
maker. Read with the understanding that influencing people is a type of selling.
Mortensen, Kurt W. (2004). Maximum Influence: The 12 Universal Laws of Power
Persuasion. New York, New York: American Management Association.
Surowiecki, James (2004). The Wisdom of Crowds: Why the Many Are Smarter than the Few
and How Collective Wisdom Shapes Business, Economies, Societies and Nations. New York,
New York: Doubleday.
Listmania! Most useful business books – EVER!
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/listmania/list-browse//3LUF6PXAXBQ2A/ref=cm_lm_dp_l_1/102-8214690-9904964
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Freiberg, Jackie and Freiberg, Kevin (2003). Guts!: Companies that Blow the Doors Off
Business-as-Usual. Currency.
Search for topics on Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ats-querypage/ref%3Db%5Ftn%5Fbh%5Fbo/104-8230191-3970344
Course Grading Criteria:
Personality Self Exploration Assessment Paper……...………………...20%
Leadership Self Exploration Assessment Paper……...………………...20%
Paper: Organizational Improvement Analysis ………………………...50%
Class participation………………………………………………………....10%
HIPAA Privacy Statement:
The federal government's Privacy Rule became effective April 14, 2003. The Privacy
Rule provides the first comprehensive federal protection for the privacy of health
information. Effective April 14, 2003 the College’s privacy policy was adopted and is as
follows:
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
Students will be required to sign a confidentiality statement before accessing
any patient information (paper, electronic and oral), and your instructor will
keep copies on file.
Students will be required to keep all patient information confidential.
Patient information will be discussed only in private areas (no elevator or
cafeteria discussion).
Students will not be allowed to take any patient information that is
identifiable from the hospital/clinic.
Students will not be able to access patient information from a hospital
computer while at home.
Students are required to follow all hospital/clinic policies and procedures for
patient privacy at clinical sites.
Failure to protect patient health information is considered a federal offense, and failure
to comply with this CON policy may result in failure of this course and possible
disciplinary action.
Learning Activities and Grading Criteria:
1. Self Exploratory Analysis Papers (SEAP). Complete all of the self assessments on
the CD identified for the topics of Personality (class 4) and Leadership (class 9) – two
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separate papers due on different weeks. These are to be two separate papers, due at
different weeks. The process is the same, the focus for the first is about you
personally, and the second is about your leadership. Review the text information for
Personality and Leadership, pages 617 and 618, and 622 and 623, respectively.
Develop an analysis of your responses and results. The purpose is to have you
explore what you learned about yourself as it relates to managing others, learning
how to lead people in a team and how to lead teams, and how to bring about
organizational change (whether you are leading it, facilitating or a participant).
How to Develop a Self Exploratory Analysis Paper (Put these titles as the titles of
the sections of the paper)
What Was Confirmed?
Describe what the assessment survey identified that you already knew about yourself.
What Was New or Insightful to You about You in this or these Assessment(s)?
Describe what the assessment survey identify that you did not know about yourself, or
were able to gain more insight to yourself.
What Will You Continue to Do?
Based upon what you know and learned, explain what behaviors and actions will you
continue and why? Explain what results you could anticipate.
What Might You Do Differently?
Based upon what you know and learned, explain what behaviors and actions might you
do differently, and why? Explain what results you anticipate from these changes.
What Could You Explore with Other People, and How?
Based upon what you know and learned, explain what behaviors and actions you could
explore in discussions with other people that you trust, and why? Explain what you
could learn from these trusted discussions.
What Could You Explore with Additional Readings, Self-Reflection, Etc.?
Based upon what you know and learned, explain what behaviors and actions you could
explore further through additional readings, self-reflections and other techniques, and
why? Explain what you could learn from these activities.
What Was Confirmed...………………………………………...….……10 points
What Was New ………………...…..……………………………..……..20 points
What Will You Continue to Do…..………………………..…...………10 points
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What Might You Do Differently ………..……………….….…..…..…20 points
What Could You Explore ………………………………………………20 points
What Could You Explore with Additional……………………...…….10 points
APA format, typing, spelling, grammar, writing……….…..………. 10 points
2. Organizational Improvement Analysis.
The purpose of this assignment is for students to become familiar with preparing an
analysis of the organizational behavior elements that must never be omitted when
dealing with organizational change activities. You are to choose a project or
organizational initiative that will require people to change their behavior and the
associated processes. This can be of project that was already attempted, a future
project or one that you create for purposes of this course (but that you might propose to
your organization – it is realistic). This assignment will also enable students to become
familiar with developing a written analysis for review by others, and using current
thinking about organizational behavior.
Suggested projects are: changes to how an organization’s people and teams are
evaluated and then promoted; changes to work teams, units or department functioning
or governance; or some component of these. You are encouraged to review your choice
with the instructor to ensure that it has sufficient substance, that you can apply
learnings of course, and that you are adequately focused (not trying to ‘boil the ocean’).
Identify an organizational condition within the nursing unit or department where you
are employed that if changed would improve nurse care delivery and would also cause
improvements for individuals, groups or teams, and the organization. Your analysis
should describe the general status quo (the As Is model), relevant background
information, the need for the change, the scope of effort, and organizational forces that
must be handled during this project. The last item should draw from material covered
in the textbook. Describe the targeted organizational state (the To Be model), including
individuals, group or team, and larger organizational factors. The project plan should
include a description of the strategy to be implemented and why it is a good one - draw
from the text. Identify the benefits and expected outcomes, and include an approach to
measuring the progress during the project execution until the end target organizational
state is achieved.
Grading Criteria (use these are titled sections of paper, except for last one):

Introduction…………………………………………………………………...……15 points

General status quo, background information, the need for the
change, the scope of project, and organizational forces that must be
handled during this project ……………...……………………..……………..….25 points
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



Targeted organizational condition, including individual,
group/team, and larger organizational factors ……………….…………..…... 20 points
Project plan with implementation strategy …………….…….……..………….20 points
Benefits and expected outcome, including measuring approach …..……......20 points
APA format, typing, spelling, grammar, organization, clarity………......…...10 points
3. Class Participation
Class participation grade will be based on articulation of personal positions, sharing of
references, thoughtfulness in processing material and application of course material.
Active participation in classroom exercises, learning activities, and student-led class
discussion is also included here. Attendance and tardiness are also components of the
class participation grade. See Class Participation Evaluation towards end syllabus.
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Course Content & Class Schedule: Organizational Behavior
Class #/
Date
Topic(s)/Class Activities
Readings and
Assignments DUE
Complete Self Assessments on CD
PRIOR to Class Session
Introductions
Course/teaching goals
Overview of syllabus
Behaviors within organizations
Challenges & opportunities
Chapter 1
Appd A: 594 – 603
Chapter 2
Week-1
Class #2
Oct. 18
Individual Behavior
Biographical characteristics
Abilities
Learning
21: What Time of Day Am I Most Productive?
23: Am I Likely to Become an Entrepreneur?
Chapter 3
Week-2
Class #3
Oct. 25
Values
Types
Attitudes
Job satisfaction
Chapter 4
Week-2
Class #4
Oct. 25
Personality and Emotions
Determinants
Traits
Emotional intelligence
9: What Do I Value?
10: How Satisfied Am I with My Job?
11: Job Satisfaction
12: What’s My Attitude Toward Achievement?
19: How Do My Ethics Rate?
1: What’s My Basic Personality?
2: What’s My MBTI Personality Type?
3: What’s My Locus of Control?
4: How Flexible Am I?
5: How Proactive Am I?
6: Am I a Type-A?
7: How Well Do I Handle Ambiguity?
8: How Creative Am I? – page 618
20: Emotional Intelligence – page 617
Week-1
Class #1
Oct. 18
Information for
Instructor DUE
Page 10
Week-3
Class #5
Nov. 1
Week-3
Class #6
Nov. 1
Week-4
Class #7
Nov. 8
Week-4
Class #8
Nov. 8
Perception & Individual Decision Making
Influencing factors
Judgments
Individual decisions
Decision-making styles
Ethics in decisions
Motivation
Early theories
Current theories
Relation to culture
MBO
Employee reward methods
Group Behavior and Work Teams
Group development stages
Group structure
Decision making
Types of teams
Team effectiveness
Individual to team player
Current issues
Communication
Process
3 methods
Organizational communication
Channel choices
Barriers
Issues
Chapter 5:
17: What’s My Decision-Making Style?
18: How Intuitive Am I?
Personality Self
Evaluation Assessment
Paper DUE
Chapter 6:
Chapter 7:
13: What Motivates Me?
14: What Rewards Do I Value Most?
15: What’s My View on the Nature of People?
16: How Sensitive Am I to Equity Differences?
22: Personal Planning – page 619
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
30: Leading a Team – page 620
Chapter 10
24: What’s My Face-to-Face Communication
Style?
25: Listen Skills – page 621
26: How Good Am I at Giving Feedback? –
page 614
Page 11
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
27: Leadership style – page 622
28: How Charismatic Am I?
29: Trusting – page 623
Chapter 13
31: Power Orientation – page 625
32: What’s My Preferred Type of Power?
Chapter 14
Week-6
Class #11
Nov. 22
Leadership
Trait theories
Behavioral theories
Contingency theories
Trust
Meaning providers
Effectiveness
Roles
Moral leadership
Challenges
Power and Politics
Bases of power
Dependency
Tactics
Group
Sexual harassment
Politics
Ethics
Conflict and Negotiations
Views of conflict
Functional and dysfunctional
Processes
Negotiation
33: How Well Do I Manage Impressions?
34: Conflict Style – page 626
Organizational Structure
Definition
New designs
Exploring differences
Chapter 15
Week-6
Class #12
Nov. 22
39: What Type of Organizational Structure Do I
Prefer?
40: Willingness to Delegate – page 627
41: How Politically-Oriented Am I?
Week-5
Class #9
Nov. 15
Week-5
Class #10
Nov. 15
Leadership Self
Evaluation Assessment
Paper DUE
Page 12
Week-7
Class #13
Nov. 29
Weel-7
Class #14
Nov. 29
Week-8
Class #15
Dec. 6
Week-8
Class #16
Dec. 6
Work Design
Affect of the electronic world
Tasks
Space
Jobs
Schedules
Culture
Definitions
Purpose
Creating culture
Learning the culture
Cultural behaviors
Organizational Change
Status quo
Planned
Resistance
Managing
Issues
Stress
Applied learnings – course, readings and
group discussions
Chapter 16
35: How Satisfied Am I with My Job?
36: How Heavy Is My Workload?
37: Job’s Motivating Potential – page 629
38: Do I Want an Enriched Job?
Chapter 18
42: Right Culture? – page 631
43: How Committed Am I to My Organization?
44: Am I Experiencing Work-Family Conflict?
45: How Motivated Am I to Mange?
46: Am I Well-Suited for a Career as a Global
Manager?
47: Response to Change – page 633
48: How Stressful Is My Life?
49: Am I Burned-Out?
Chapter 19
Organizational
Improvement Analysis
Paper DUE
5 – 7 (total, with questions or comments)
minutes presentation on book/article your
suggest others read
Page 13
Organizational Behavior
Fall 2004
Self Exploration Assessment Papers (There are 2)
Name:
What was confirmed
What was new
What will you continue to do
What might you do differently
What could you explore
What could you explore with additional
APA format, typing, spelling, grammar, writing
/10 points
/20 points
/10 points
/20 points
/20 points
/10 points
/10 points
Comments:
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Organizational Behavior
Fall 2004
Organizational Improvement Analysis
Name:
Introduction
Status quo, background information, need, scope, and organizational
forces
Targeted organizational condition
Project plan with implementation strategy
Benefits and expected outcome, with measuring
APA format, typing, spelling, grammar, organization, clarity
/5 points
/25 points
/20 points
/20 points
/20 points
/10 points
Comments:
15
Organizational Behavior
Fall 2004
Class Participation (Email to instructor within 24 hours of class completion)
Name:__________________________________
Date:____________________________
2
Preparation
Content and
Knowledge
Communication
Integration and
Application
TOTAL POINTS
for CLASS
1
Contributions
reflect significant
knowledge of
topic/content
preparation.
Contributions
reflect moderate
knowledge of
topic/content
preparation.
2
1
Facilitates group
Clear and
communication,
consistent
demonstrates
communication.
ability to
Demonstrates
communicate
ability to
effectively with
communicate
others
with others
with differing
effectively.
views
2
1
Contributions
Contributions
reflect significant
reflect
ability to integrate
moderate ability
content.
to integrate
Demonstrates
content and
critical inquiry and recommend
recommends
applications to
applications to
practice.
practice.
N/A
N/A
0
Comments not
reflective of
preparation.
Number = ___
0
Dominating
discussions, lack
of meaningful
participation.
Absent/Late.
Disrespectful of
others.
Number = ___
0
Minimal/no
demonstration of
ability to
integrate content
and recommend
applications to
practice.
N/A
Number = ___
TOTAL = _____
(max is 6)
Comments:__________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
16
MGMT 541 Organizational Behavior
Fall 2004
Information for Instructor
Completing this form will help the instructor understand the variety in experience,
backgrounds and expectations, and to help determine what you want from this
course. Please complete and email to jbecker1@gsbalum.uchicago.edu
1. Name:
2. Mailing Address:
3. Phone -1:
Phone-2:
4. Email address:
5. Current place of employment:
6. Current job title and short description of responsibilities:
7. Short description of your professional, educational and work history and experience,
plus any other information that will help instructor understand who you are:
8. What you wish to be doing professionally in 5 to 10 years:
9. Expectations: what do you generally want to obtain from this course?
10. What specifically do you want to learn about (i.e., if you do not learn them in this course
you will be disappointed and the course will not have met your expectations)?
11. What gaps of knowledge are you seeking to close with this course?
12. What have been, or do you anticipate in your near future, your most challenging
situations in your current organization – up to three? Why?
13. How much have you explored about you? Myers-Briggs: do you know yours (if so,
please state) and what that tells you about yourself? How do you optimally learn?
14. Describe how you process information – consider physical, psychological/emotional,
mental, spiritual views?
17