MOR 601
Seminar in Organizational Behavior
Professor Alexandra Michel
Office: Hoffman Hall 619
E-mail: amichel@marshall. usc.edu
Class Time: Friday, 2:00-4:50pm
Office Hours: By appointment
Note: This syllabus is a draft and subject to change.
Course Objectives
This seminar provides beginning doctoral students an overview of some of the major topics in
organizational behavior. The course is designed to provide a broad exposure to its numerous
literatures, an understanding of its central concepts, and the opportunity to develop ideas for how
you might contribute to this field. We will pursue these goals by examining a mix of theoretical
and empirical research, thinking critically about their strengths and limitations, and creating a
forum for you to test your own conceptual and empirical ideas.
Assignments and Grading
1) Class Discussions (20%). Students are expected to read all the assigned materials and
take an active role in discussing them. Additionally, each student will be responsible for
presenting a subset of these papers in each class session. Students should examine the
assigned readings for a given session and allocate these assignments so that each student
is responsible for presenting, on an informal basis, at least one of these papers (longer
assignments may be divided across students). Non-presenters will be in charge of
providing additional comments, insights, and reactions to both the paper and presentation.
2) Weekly papers (20%). A 3-5 page (double-spaced) analysis of the assigned readings is
due at the start of each class session, comprising the following elements: (1) a summary
of those aspects of the readings (not longer than 1 paragraph), (2) your
argument/thesis/critique of the readings, including an explanation of how your argument
is novel and how it contributes to prior research, and (3) directions for future research
(one paragraph).
3) Causal Modeling Paper (20%). Prepare a 5 page (double-spaced) paper that identifies an
interesting theoretical question and proposes a testable causal model that can address it.
Draw and explain the causal model that your study will examine. Define your constructs,
justify the causal relations, and explain what the data would look like to confirm versus
disconfirm your hypothesis.
4) Term paper (40%). Prepare a 15-20 page (double-spaced) research proposal of the type
suitable for a paper that would appear in a top tier management journal. No data or
analysis is necessary. However, your paper should include compelling motivation (i.e.,
why is this project interesting), relevant theory (including research that may not have
been assigned for the class), testable hypotheses, an explicit research design, and a
discussion of the expected results. Students should develop this proposal with the
expectation that it will become a publishable paper.
Reading List
Week 1 (Aug. 29): Introduction
- Barley, S.R. (2006). When I write my masterpiece: Thoughts on what makes a paper
interesting. Academy of Management Journal, 49(1): 16-20.
- Bartunek, J.M., S.L. Rynes, and R. D. Ireland (2006). What makes management
research interesting and why does it matter? Academy of Management Journal, 49(1):
9-16.
- Whetten, D.A. (1989). What constitutes a theoretical contribution? Academy of
Management Review, 14(4), 490-495.
- Ross, L., and Nisbett, R. (1991). The Person and the Situation. New York: McGrawHill, Inc., Chapter 8.
- Sutton, R.I. and Staw, B.M. (1995). What theory is not. Administrative Science
Quarterly, 40(3), 371-384.
- Weick, K.E. (1989). Theory construction as disciplined imagination. The Academy of
Management Review, 14(4), 516-531.
Week 2 (Sept. 5): Person vs. Situation
- Mischel, W. and Y. Shoda (1995). A cognitive-affective system theory of personality:
Reconceptualizing situations, dispositions, dynamics, and invariance in personality
structure. Psychological Review, 102: 246-268.
- Davis-Blake, A., & Pfeffer, J. (1989). Just a mirage: The search for dispositional
effects in organizational research. Academy of Management Review, 14, 385-400.
- Higgins, E. T. (1990). Personality, social psychology, and person-situation relations:
Standards and knowledge activation as a common language. In L. A. Pervin (Ed.),
Handbook of personality: Theory and research (pp. 301-338). New York, NY: The
Guilford Press.
- House, R.J., Shane, S.A., Herold, D.M. (1996). Rumors of the death of dispositional
research are vastly exaggerated. Academy of Management Review, 21(1), 203-224.
- Lave, J. (1996). The practice of learning. In Chaiklin, S. and J. Lave (eds.),
Understanding practice: Perspectives on activity and context, (pp. 3-35). New York:
Cambridge University Press.
Week 3 (Sept. 12): The Self
- Baumeister, R.F. (1999). The nature and structure of the self: An overview. In R.F.
Baumeister (ed.), The self in social psychology, (pp. 1-20). Philadelphia, PA: Taylor
and Francis.
- Carver, C. and M. Scheier (1982). Control theory: A useful conceptual framework for
personality-social, clinical, and health psychology. Psychological Bulletin, 92: 111135.
- Higgins, E.T. (1996a). The “Self Digest”: Self-knowledge serving self-regulatory
functions. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71(6), 1062-1083.
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Chen, S., H.C. Boucher, and M. Parker Tapias (2006). The relational self revisited:
Integrative conceptualizations and implications for interpersonal life. Psychological
Bulletin, 132(2): 151-179.
Markus, H. and E. Wurf (1987). The dynamic self-concept: A social psychological
perspective. Annual Review in Psychology, 38: 299-337.
Week 4: (Sept. 19): Motivation and Job Design
- Higgins, E.T. and A.W. Kruglanski: Motivational science: The nature and functions
of wanting. In E.T. Higgins and A.W. Kruglanski (eds.) Motivational Science: Social
and Personality Perspectives: 1-20, Philadelphia, PA: Taylor and Francis.
- Heine, S.J. (2007). Culture and motivation. What motivates people to act in the ways
that they do? In S. Kitayama and D. Cohen (eds.), Handbook of Cultural Psychology:
714-734. New York: Guilford.
- Dweck, C.S. and E. L. Leggett (1988). A social-cognitive approach to motivation and
personality. Psychological Review, 95: 256-273.
- Higgins, E.T. (1997). Beyond pleasure and pain. American Psychologist, 52: 12801300.
- Ellemers, N., D. De Gilder, and S.A. Haslam (2004). Motivating individuals and
groups at work: A social identity perspective on leadership and group performance.
Academy of Management Review, 29(3), 459-478.
Week 5 (Sept. 26): Cognition
- Berkowitz, L. and P. Devine (1995). Has social psychology always been cognitive?
What is “cognitive’ anyhow? Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 21(7): 696703.
- Aronson, E. (2004). The social animal. Chapter 4: Social cognition. New York:
Worth.
- Walsh, J.P. (1995). Managerial and organizational cognition: Notes from a trip down
memory lane. Organization Science, 6(3), 280-321.
- Prawat, R.S. (1996). Constructivisms, modern and postmodern. Educational
Psychologist: 31(3/4): 215-225.
- Levine, J.M., L.B. Resnick, and T.E. Higgins (1993). Social foundations of cognition.
Annual Review of Psychology, 44: 585-612.
- Weick, K. E. (1998). Improvisation as a mindset for organizational analysis.
Organization Science, 9: 543-555.
Week 6 (Oct. 3): Emotions
- Kemper, T. D. (1993). Sociological models in the explanation of emotions. In M.
Lewis & J. M. Haviland (Eds.), Handbook of Emotion. New York: Guilford.
- Markus, H.R. and S. Kitayama (1994). The cultural construction of self and emotion:
Implications for social behavior. In S. Kitayama and H.R. Markus (eds.), Emotion
and culture: Empirical studies of mutual influence (pp. 89-130). Washington, DC:
American Psychological Association.
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Keltner, D. and J. Haidt (2001). Social function of emotions at four levels of analysis.
In W.G. Parrott (ed.) Emotions in Social Psychology. Key Readings in Social
Psychology (pp. 175-185). Taylor and Francis: Philadelphia, PA.
Lutz, C. and G.M. White (1986). The anthropology of emotions. Annual Review of
Anthropology, 15: 405-436.
Gergen, K.J. (1994). Emotion as relationship. In K.J. Gergen: Realities and
Relationships. Soundings in social construction: 210-235. Cambridge, MA: Harvard
University Press.
Lazarus, R.S. (1991). Cognition and motivation in emotion. American Psychologist,
46(4), 352-367.
Zajonc, R.B. (1980). Feeling and thinking: Preferences need no inferences. American
Psychologist, 35: 151-175.
Week 7 (Oct. 10): Decision Making
- Staw, B.M. (1976). Knee deep in the big muddy: A study of escalating commitment
to a chosen course of action. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision
Performance, 16, 27-44.
- Gergen, K.J. (1994). Objectivity as rhetorical achievement. In K.J. Gergen: Realities
and Relationships. Soundings in social construction: 165-184. Cambridge, MA:
Harvard University Press.
- Tversky, A. and D. Kahneman. (1974). Judgment under uncertainty: Heuristics and
biases. Science, 185, 1124-1131.
- Staw, B.M., L.E. Sandelands, and J.E. Dutton. (1981). Threat rigidity effects in
organizational behavior: A multilevel analysis. Administrative Science Quarterly,
26(4), 501-524.
- Ajzen, I. (1996). The social psychology of decision making. In E.T. Higgins and
A.W. Kruglanski (eds.). Social Psychology: Handbook of Basic Principles: 297-328.
New York, NY: The Guilford Press.
- Weick, K.E. (1990). The vulnerable system: An analysis of the Tenerife Air Disaster.
Journal of Management, 16(3): 571-593.
Week 8 (Oct. 17): Interpersonal Perceptions
- Brewer, M.B., and W. Gardner. (1996). Who is this “We”? Levels of collective
identity and self representations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71(1),
83-93.
- Tajfel, H. and J. Turner. (1979). An integrative theory of intergroup conflict. In W. G.
Austin and S. Worchel (eds.), The social psychology of intergroup relations: 33-47.
Monterey, CA: Brooks and Cole.
- Bourdieu, P. (1980). The Logic of Practice. Book 1, Chapter 3: Structures, habitus,
practices (p. 52-66) and Chapter 4: Belief and the body (p. 66). Stanford, CA:
Stanford University Press.
- Weick, K.E., K.M. Sutcliffe, and D. Obstfeld. (2005). Organizing and the process of
sensemaking. Organization Science, 16(4): 409-421.
Week 9 (Oct. 24): Power and Influence
- Emerson, R.M. (1962). Power-Dependence Relations. American Sociological
Review, 27(1), 31-41.
- Dreyfus, H.L. and P. Rabinow. (1983). Power and truth. In Michel Foucault: Beyond
Structuralism and Hermeneutics (2nd edition): 184-204. Chicago, Ill: University of
Chicago Press.
- Bourdieu, P. (1980). The Logic of Practice. Book 1, Chapter 8: Modes of domination
(pp. 122-134). Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
- Aronson, E. (2004). The social animal. Chapter 3: Mass communication, propaganda,
and persuasion. New York: Worth.
- Cialdini, R.B. and M.R. Trost. (1998). Social influence: Social norms, conformity,
and compliance. In Gilbert, D.T., S.T. Fiske, and G. Lindzey (eds.), The Handbook of
Social Psychology, Volume 2: 151-192. New York, NY: McGraw Hill.
- Molm, L.D. (1989). Punishment power: A balancing process in power-dependence
relations. American Journal of Sociology, 94(6), 1392-1418.
Week 10 (Oct. 31): Socialization and Learning
- Nicolini, D., S. Gherardi, and D. Yanow (2003). Introduction: Toward a practicebased view of knowing and learning in organizations. In D. Nicolini, S. Gherardi, and
D. Yanow (eds.), Knowing in organizations: A practice-based approach; 3-31.
London, UK: Sharpe.
- Van Maanen, J. and E.H. Schein (1979). Towards a theory of organizational
socialization. In B.M. Staw (ed.), Research in organizational behavior (Vol. 1, pp.
209-264). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
- Lave, J. (1991). Situating learning in communities of practice. In L.B. Resnick, J.M.
Levine, and S.D. Teasley (eds.), Perspectives on Socially Shared Cognition: 63-84.
Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
- Barab, S.A., and J.A. Plucker (2002). Smart people or smart contexts? Cognition,
ability, and talent development in an age of situated approaches to knowing and
learning. Educational Psychologist, 37(3): 165-182.
- Sfard, A. (1998). On two metaphors of learning and the dangers of choosing just one.
Educational Researcher, 27(2), 4-13.
Week 11 (Nov. 7): Group Relations
- Levine, J. M. and R.L. Moreland (1998). Small groups. In Gilbert, D.T., S.T. Fiske,
and G. Lindzey (eds.), The Handbook of Social Psychology, Volume 2: 415-469.
New York, NY: McGraw Hill.
- Ancona, D.G. & Caldwell, D.F. (1992). Bridging the boundary: External activity and
performance in self-regulating work groups. Administrative Science Quarterly, 37(4),
634-665.
- Kruglanski, A., A. Pierro, L., L. Mannetti, and E. deGrada (2006). Groups as
epistemic providers: Need for closure and the unfolding of group-centrism.
Psychological Review, 113(1): 84-100.
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Barker, J.R. (1993). Tightening the iron cage: Concertive control in self-managing
teams. Administrative Science Quarterly, 38(3), 408-437.
Klein, K.J., J.C. Ziegert, A.P. Knight, and Y. Xiao (2006). Dynamic delegation:
shared hierarchical, and deindividualized leadership in extreme action teams.
Administrative Science Quarterly, 51(4): 590-621.
*** Causal Model Paper Due ***
Week 12 (Nov. 14): Collective Cognition
- Latour, B. (2007). On the difficulty of being an ANT: An interlude in the form of a
dialog. In B. Latour: Reassembling the social: An introduction to Actor-NetworkTheory: 141-156. New York: Oxford.
- Wegner, D.M. (1986). Transactive memory: A contemporary analysis of the group
mind. In B. Mullen & G.R. Goethals (Eds.) Theories of group behavior. New York,
NY: Springer Verlag.
- Weick, K.E., and K.H. Roberts (1993). Collective mind in organizations: Heedful
interrelating on flight decks.” Administrative Science Quarterly, 38: 357-381.
- Wertsch, J. (1998). Mind as action: pp. 3-72. New York: Oxford.
- Brown, J., and P. Duguid (1991). Organizational learning and communities-ofpractice: Towards a unified view of working, learning, and innovation. Organization
Science, 2(1), 40-57.
Week 13 (Nov. 21): Culture
- Norenzayan, A. and S.J. Heine (2005). Psychological universals: What are they and
how can we know? Psychological Bulletin: 131(5): 763-784.
- Gergen, K.J. (1990). Social understanding and the inscription of self. In J.W. Stigler,
R.A. Shweder, and G. Herdt (eds.), Cultural psychology: Essays on comparative
human development: 569-607. New York: Cambridge.
- Markus, H.R., S. Kitayama, and R.J. Heiman (1996). Culture and basic psychological
principles. In E.T. Higgins and A.W. Kruglanski (eds.), Social Psychology:
Handbook of Basic Principles, 4: 857-913. New York, NY: Guilford.
- Shweder, R. (1990). Cultural psychology – what is it? In J.W. Stigler, R.A. Shweder,
and G. Herdt (eds.), Cultural psychology: Essays on comparative human
development. New York: Cambridge.
- O’Reilly, C. and J.A. Chatman (1996). Culture as social control: Corporations, cults,
and commitment. In B. M. Staw and L. L. Cummings (eds), Research in
Organizational Behavior, 18: 157-200. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
Thanksgiving (Nov. 28) Æ No Class
Week 14 (Dec. 5): Review and Integration
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We will discuss the structure of this session in class.
*** Term Paper Due: Dec. 5 ***