Course:
Organizational Behavior and
Leadership
Tutor:
Daniel Nicholes
Confirmed by:
Director of MPA_____________________
Smith Alice, PhD
Astrakhan 2009
Organizational Behavior and Leadership  MPA 3120
Astrakhan, Summer 2009
9 – 31 May, 2009
Dr. Daniel Nicholes
dnicholes@clarku.edu
Skype: Daniel.Nicholes2
Course Description
Organizational behavior is the study of people in the context of their organizations. People are
intensely complex and the organizations they create are both a reflection of their individual
members’ complexities and drivers of individual behavior. Their study must appreciate that
complexity and the challenges of individual and organizational behavior.
Behavioral science gives us concepts relevant to the study of managerial behavior. This course
seeks to examine organizational theory to aid the developing leader in explaining the behavior of
his or her organization and to suggest tools that leaders can employ to manage their workforce to
accomplish their organizational goals.
Themes of the course:
o Theories of organizational behavior and leadership: How do we explain how people
behave in social groups?
o Theories of leadership: How do the leaders of organization seek to direct the behavior of
their groups’ members to meet organizational goals?
o Real world tools: What are the tools available to modern leaders to facilitate their
leadership?
o Personal application: Where are the opportunities to implement the scholarship of
organizational behavior and the best practices of successful business leaders to personal
leadership situations?
Course Goals
o Develop an understanding of the theories of organizational behavior and leadership.
Identify the assumptions about human actions that have influenced the ways that scholars
and practitioners conceptualize organizational behavior and leadership.
o Develop an appreciation of organizations as social entities that pursue objectives,
coordinate activities and manage relations among their members.
o Link the concepts, models and approaches (i.e., theory) of organizational behavior and
leadership to the practice of management in organizations (i.e., real-world application).
o Analyze the roles that leaders can and cannot assume in the social systems that comprise
their organizations.
o Understand the systemic factors that influence the behaviors of groups and individuals.
2
o Utilize classroom interaction to explore and demonstrate individual and organizational
interaction.
o Develop the personal skills of analytic reasoning, oral and written communication,
teamwork, leadership and decision making through learning groups and class
participation.
Text
Debra L. Nelson and James Campbell Quick, Understanding Organizational Behavior,
Thompson South-Western, any edition
Additional learning resources listed in the syllabus assignments. Other resources and readings
will be provided.
Methods of Instruction and Class Interaction
Learning will occur on three levels: individual study, classroom participation/interaction and
learning group activity. Students will read assigned chapters in the text and additional reading to
be assigned, and complete the assigned learning group activities for each evening before class.
Class activity will consist of discussion of the topics assigned for each week’s class accompanied
by presentations and reports of learning group work. Class time will not be devoted to review of
readings except as requested by students for clarification.
Learning Group Project
Students will prepare and present a major project as part of his or her learning group activity.
The purpose of the project is to apply the principles of organizational behavior and leadership
scholarship to the students’ current organizational setting. Each learning group will define the
organization that its members will study, prepare a proposal for the project, and conduct their
investigation. The topics listed in the syllabus below will guide the areas of investigation. The
description of learning group activities provides for formative feedback from each group over the
course of the term. In the last two class meetings, each group will make a presentation describing
their project and make recommendations to the leadership of the organization for interventions.
Additional information will be provided in the first class.
Evaluation
Students will be evaluated on the basis of their contribution to class discussion, the quality of
their scholarship on papers and the degree to which their presentations meet the assignments. As
teamwork is critical to the success of a leader, learning group activity will be evaluated by the
instructor and learning group peers. There will be no tests.
Grading Criteria
Class participation
Individual papers and written summaries
Learning group formative presentations and summaries
Learning group project presentation
20%
40%
20%
20%
3
The rules of Graduate Grading will apply:
A Outstanding (4.0)
B Good-performing at a graduate level (3.0)
C Marginal Pass (2.0)
[The symbols + or – attached to letter grades increase or decrease the grade respectively by 0.3.
There is no C- grade.]
F failing (0.0)
I Incomplete: An incomplete is given at the discretion of the instructor when circumstances
beyond the student’s control prevent him or her from meeting specific out-of-class requirements
after the last day to withdraw. Only the instructor of the course may assign an incomplete.
W Withdraw: Indicates that the student withdrew from the course. Withdrawal requests must be
submitted in writing
The academic record for each student is reviewed every semester. Good standing indicates that a
student’s cumulative grade point average is at least 3.0 (B). While the grade of C earned in a
course is a passing grade, a cumulative average of B is required for graduation. A cumulative
grade point average below 3.0 is considered inadequate academic performance. Students are
placed on academic probation when their GPA is below 3.0 after completing four or more units.
Students who remain on academic probation after two semesters may be dismissed from
COPACE graduate programs.
Participation and Attendance
Students are expected to arrive at the designated class start time, attend all classes and participate
actively in class discussion and learning group assignments. Missing classes will most likely
reduce your grade due to the loss of participation and activity assignments. There will be no
makeup or extra credit assignments.
Intellectual Integrity
All work must be original and specific to the course. Any paper or presentation suspected of
being recycled or plagiarized will be rejected with serious implications.
4
Schedule
Date
Assignment
Discussion
Week
1a
10/5/09
Text Ch. 1 & 2
The Changing Nature
of Leadership
Week
1b
11/5/09
Text Ch. 3
MBTI Type
Assessment, text pp.
74-77
Week
2a
16/5/09
Text Ch. 4 & 5
Heinz Dilemma:
Example of Moral
Judgment Interview
The Business
Executive as
Facilitator of Moral
Development
Text Ch. 6 & 7
Why Performance
Reviews Don’t Work
— and What You Can
Do About It
Text Ch. 8
Attitudes, values and ethics:
the individual and the
organization Motivation
Discussion of personality types
observed in students’
organizations.
Learning group discussion of
projects.
Discussion of Case #3
Learning groups will present their
proposals.
Discussion of Case #5
The management of
performance Communication:
the most fundamental
leadership tool.
Each student will prepare a 2-page
paper on the management of
performance in an organization in
which he or she is a member.
Work teams and groups
Discuss Case #8
Text Ch. 9 & 10
What Is a Decision
Support System?
http://dssresources.co
m/papers/whatisadss/
Case Study as a
Research Method
Text Ch. 11 & 12
Leadership
Assessments
Situational Leadership
Alternative techniques of
decision making
Power and political behavior
Each student will write a case
study of decision making in his or
her organization.
Learning groups will present an
update on their projects.
Discuss Case #10
Leadership
Theories of conflict and
conflict management at work.
Text Ch. 13, 14 & 15
The realities of work and
organizational design.
Organizational Culture
Each student will describe one
example of functional conflict and
one example of dysfunctional
conflict in his or her organization.
Situational Leadership Activity
Each student will describe the
organizational design of his or her
organization using the concepts in
Chapter 14.
Discussion of Case #13
Week
2b
17/5/09
Week
2c
18/5/09
Week
3a
23/5/09
Week
3b
24/5/09
Week
4a
30/5/09
The study of organizational
behavior and its meaning for
modern leadership
Leadership Challenges
Personality types and their
impact on the organization
Learning Group and Individual
Activity
Establishment of learning groups.
Discussion of Case #1
5
Week
4b
31/5/09
Text Ch. 16
Learning Group
Presentations
Managing Change
Learning Group Presentations
Learning group evaluation
6