BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY
Organizational Behavior
Spring Semester 2016
Instructor: Professor Andy Molinsky
Office: IBS, room 254
 (781) 736 -2255
 molinsky@brandeis.edu
Office Hours: By appointment
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course is about the people side of business. Although skills in finance, accounting,
marketing and operations are crucial for organizational success, the ability to manage and
understand an organization, its groups, and its individuals can be equally crucial. Indeed, when
experienced managers and executives return to business schools for executive education classes,
seminars in “people management skills” are in high demand. Managers see these skills as being a
key element in their own career success. Technical skills may have helped them land their initial
job, but people skills are likely to determine whether or not they keep it, and how much they can
accomplish in their career.
During the next several weeks, we will explore a variety of perspectives and theories that explain
the dynamics of individual, interpersonal, group, and organizational processes. Learning about
these ideas will help you develop and apply insights about human behavior in organizational
settings. The course material will be useful in planning careers, managing relationships with
other people, making complex decisions, designing jobs, becoming a leader, and making sense of
today’s -- and tomorrow’s -- corporate world. This course will also help you understand some of
the challenges involved in both managing and being managed. Ultimately, the tools and skills
developed in this course should equip you to become more effective contributors to organizations
that you join.
COURSE OBJECTIVES


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
Understanding what organizations are all about and what is involved in becoming productive
and satisfied members of them.
Appreciating how the human side of management is an essential complement to the technical
skills you are learning in other courses.
Learning concepts and approaches that will enable you to analyze organizational problems
and to develop appropriate solutions.
Developing the knowledge and skills you need to be a successful manager of yourself and
others.
READING MATERIALS
Required readings, which are to be completed before arriving to class, are included in these
sources:
(1) Textbook: Organizational Behavior, 16th Edition. Stephen P. Robbins and Timothy A. Judge.
Prentice Hall.
(2) Molinsky, A.L. 2013. Global Dexterity: How to adapt your behavior across cultures without
losing yourself in the process. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Review Press. (available at
Bookstore, or online)
(3) Course reader 1: Available at the Brandeis Bookstore.
(4) Course reader 2: Available online from Harvard Business School Publishing.
Click this link and follow directions to pay directly for the course pack with them:
https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/access/42372680
(5) MBTI/Myers Briggs Test (to be completed and brought into class for the second session) available at bookstore
Note: You may use older editions, or the international edition of the textbook, but beware:
the page numbers and chapter numbers will not always correspond with the 16th Edition.
So, you should take great care to make sure you are reading the correct material by
comparing your older edition to the 16th Edition.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
Requirements for the course include: (1) class participation; (2) short papers; (3) in-class quizzes;
and (4) a group project – which includes a proposal, paper and presentation.
Requirement
Participation
Short papers
Quiz 1
Quiz 2
Group paper
Group presentation
Percentage
20 %
1%
17%
17%
30%
15%
Due Date
due in class the day assigned
Feb 23
March 24
April 19
April 14 & 19
NOTE: Each member of your group will receive the same grade for the group proposal,
paper and presentation. In exceptional circumstances, I reserve the right to alter individual
grades on the group assignment (e.g. when someone, in my opinion, clearly does not
contribute to the project in a substantive and consistent way).
1) PARTICIPATION (20%)
An important course requirement is active involvement in class discussion. Because discussion is
a substantial part of the course, student participation is essential — for both your own learning
and that of the other students.
Attendance will be taken at the beginning of each class. All missed classes will be noted. The
policy on missed classes is to allow each student two (2) absences, no questions asked. All
further absences over the limit will reduce the student’s overall class grade by ½ grade (e.g.
from a B to a B-) for each class missed. Students with an excessive number of absences are at
risk to fail the course. Habitual lateness (or leaving class early), for whatever reason, will be
noted as evidence of low course commitment and will be penalized.
Students are expected to attend every class session having read and thought about the assigned
material (it will not typically be reviewed in class). Students should always be prepared to
contribute to the class discussions, demonstrating their preparation by asking questions whenever
necessary and by integrating the vocabulary and concepts from the readings into their class
comments. If you will be absent, please email me before class.
Class discussions provide the opportunity to practice speaking and persuasive skills, as well as the
ability to listen. Effective class comments may address questions raised by others, integrate
material from this and other courses, draw on real-world experiences and observations, or pose new
questions to the class. High-quality participation involves knowing when to speak and when to
listen or allow others to speak. Comments that are repetitive, unrelated to the current topic,
disrespectful of others, or without sufficient foundation are discouraged and will be evaluated
negatively.
The best class comments:
• make or raise issues that are relevant to the current focus of the class;
• show curiosity and a willingness to experiment;
• use data or examples to support conclusions;
• take into consideration the ideas already offered by others;
• offer support for arguments; or
• help others feel safe about participating.
When I grade for participation at the end of the semester, I will focus on your active, vocal
participation in discussions. If you do not feel comfortable participating in class, please let me
know and we may be able to find alternative methods of participating. If you do not contact me, I
will assume that you feel comfortable participating.
2) SHORT PAPERS (1%)
For a few class sessions you will be asked to write a short paper reacting to a set of questions
posed on the syllabus. These papers must be submitted in hard copy, in person, at the
beginning of each class session when they are a required assignment. No late papers will be
accepted.
These short papers will be graded pass/fail and they will factor into your participation grade.
You may use laptops for taking notes only. If I see you using electronic devices for purposes
other than taking notes in class (e.g., surfing the internet, writing email) – even once, you
will receive a very low class participation grade for the entire semester. The same policy
holds for sending and receiving emails or texts, or for surfing the internet on your
smartphone or handheld device.
2) QUIZZES (2 quizzes, each worth 17%)
There will be two quizzes, each of which is worth 17.5% of your final grade. The first quiz will
focus on individual and interpersonal processes; the second quiz will focus on interpersonal
processes and group processes. There will be no quiz on organizational processes. The quizzes
will be closed book and will consist of 40-60 true/false and multiple-choice questions.
Quiz 2 will be cumulative, although the majority of the questions (e.g. 80%) will cover new
material.
There will be no make-up quizzes and there is no final exam for this course.
3) GROUP PROJECT (30% paper; 15% presentation)
Many of the theories and perspectives that we will focus on this semester are based on research
conducted in the United States. However, organizational behavior is, of course, practiced around
the world. In a group, you will prepare a final paper comparing organizational behavior in a
different country to organizational behavior in the United States. These groups will be created
by me and will consist of 4-5 students.
There are three parts of the paper.
Part I: Core dimensions of cultural difference
For the first part of the paper you will present an overall, general analysis of core dimensions of
difference between the United States and the country your group has chosen to focus on. For this,
you will use one or more of the following frameworks:
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
Hofstede’s cultural dimensions theory
Project Globe’s cultural dimensions
Trompenaars’ dimensions of cultural difference
Erin Meyer’s Culture Map framework
A combination of different elements of these frameworks
You can learn about Hofstede and Project Globe in your course book and online. You can learn
about Trompenaars’ work in the following book: Riding The Waves of Culture: Understanding
Diversity in Global Business (1997). You can learn about Erin Meyer’s Culture Map in her book
by the same title and there are also quite a few references to the framework online.
Here are some other sites that might be useful to you:
Hofstede
http://geert-hofstede.com/national-culture.html
http://geerthofstede.nl/dimensions-of-national-cultures
Project Globe
http://www.tlu.ee/~sirvir/IKM/Leadership%20Dimensions/index.html
http://www.grovewell.com/wp-content/uploads/pub-GLOBE-intro.pdf
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/how-cultural-factors-affect-leadership/
Trompenaars
https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/seven-dimensions.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trompenaars'_model_of_national_culture_differences
https://sevendimensionsofculture.wikispaces.com/Trompenaars'+Seven+Dimensions+of+Culture
Erin Meyer
https://hbr.org/2014/05/navigating-the-cultural-minefield
In terms of understanding the cultural differences themselves (e.g, how leadership or
communication or negotiation happens in the county you choose to focus on), there are also many
useful sources of information on the internet. You can also find some books in the library
focusing on specific countries and cultural differences, and if you’re inspired to buy something,
Intercultural Press has a lot of good books about cultural differences. Finally, you should also
interview people from the culture you’re focusing on to get a deeper perspective. We will talk
more in class about how exactly you will present this cultural information.
Part II: Specific Aspects of Organizational Behavior
You will choose 4 different aspects of organizational behavior to compare across the two cultures
(for example: leadership, motivation, communication, decision making). For example, if you
choose communication as one of your dimensions, and Germany as your country, you might
describe how the communication style in Germany is different from the US, why it is different
from the US style, and how it might impact interactions between German and American people at
work. You will do this for all the dimensions of organizational behavior you choose to focus on.
These can be dimensions we talk about in class, or dimensions in your book that we don’t talk
about.
Again, for this part of the project, you should consult with a range of different resources, such as:


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Websites
Books about cultural differences
Interviews with natives
You can and should include stories, examples and quotations from native-born employees and
managers familiar with the situations you’re focusing on in your paper. Really work hard to
make these differences “come alive” in your paper.
Part III: Illustrative scenarios of cultural misunderstanding
The final part of the paper is a series of illustrative scenarios that you will create to illustrate the
differences for the reader. These scenarios should follow the following format:

You will start with a short story about someone from one of the two cultures trying to
interact in a particular organizational behavior situation in the other culture, but somehow
struggling or making key errors (you will create a separate vignette for each dimension of
organizational behavior you focus on). I will give you some examples of these types of
stories in class.

At the end of your story, you will pose a question to the reader about what went wrong or
what critical mistake the person in the story made. This may be an open-ended question
or a quiz question where the reader needs to choose from various options.

Finally, at the end of each story, you will provide an answer to this question for the
reader, explaining what the dilemma was in the story, what the cultural mistake was and
why the person committed it.
You must create at least one illustrative scenario for each of your chosen dimensions of
organizational behavior.
4) FINAL GROUP PRESENTATION (15%)
You and your group will then present your findings and insights during an in-class presentation.
The presentation will be 15-20 minutes long (with Q&A included). The presentation will be
graded both for content and for style and details for this will also be provided in class.
The presentation and paper are group assignments and everyone will receive the same
group grade. However, I reserve the right to alter individual grades on the group projects
in certain circumstances (e.g. when it is clear to me that an individual clearly did not
contribute to the project in a consistent and meaningful way).
OTHER IMPORTANT INFORMATION
1) ACADEMY INTEGRITY
Academic integrity is central to the mission of educational excellence at Brandeis. Each student
is expected to turn in work completed independently, except where assignments specifically
authorize collaborative effort. It is not acceptable to use the words or ideas of another person - be
it a world class philosopher or your lab partner - without proper acknowledgement of that
source. This means that you must use footnotes and quotation marks to indicate the source of any
phrases, sentences, paragraphs or ideas found in published volumes, on the internet or created by
another student.
Violations of the University policies on academic integrity, described in Section Three of Rights
and Responsibilities, may result in failure in the course or on the assignment, or in suspension or
dismissal from the University. If you are in doubt about the instructions for any assignment in this
course, it is your responsibility to ask for clarification. Please consult the following webpage if
you have any questions: http://www.brandeis.edu/studentlife/sdc/ai/
2) FORMAT OF ASSIGNMENTS
All written assignments must be double-spaced, 12 point font, 8.5 x 11 inch paper.
3) RETURN OF GRADED PAPERWORK
Returned paperwork, unclaimed by a student, will be discarded after 4 weeks and, hence, will not
be available should a grade appeal be pursued by a student following receipt of his/her course
grade. Grade appeals must be made in writing.
4) DISABILITY
If you are a student with a documented disability on record at Brandeis University and you wish
to have a reasonable accommodation made for you in this class, please see me immediately.
Please keep in mind that reasonable accommodations are not provided retroactively.
COURSE OUTLINE
INTRODUCTION
January 14
Overview
Reading: Chapter 1; Appendix (research in organizational behavior)
Note: This is background reading that will be covered on the first quiz
UNDERSTANDING INDIVIDUALS & CULTURE
January 19
Personality & Individual Differences
Reading: Chapter 5
Assignments: Complete Myers-Briggs (MBTI) and bring to class
January 21
Perception and Decision Making
Reading: Chapter 6; plus: “They Saw a Game” in course reader
January 26
Culture and Cultural Differences
Reading: Global Dexterity, Chapters 1-6
This is a combined reading assignment for this session and the next one. In total, you are
responsible for Chapters 1-6; the rest of the book is optional.
Assignment: Write and bring to class a 1-2 page reaction to the
following question:
Think of a time when you were in a foreign culture. For students who
have spent time (or who are currently spending time) in a foreign
country, use this as your example. For students who have never lived
abroad, think of a time in which you had to function within your national
“culture,” but outside your typical social milieu (e.g. a young person with
senior citizens). Describe a specific situation in this foreign culture (e.g.
saying goodbye, interviewing for a job, participating in a meeting) where
the rules for appropriate and acceptable behavior were much different
than the rules for the same situation in your native culture (or from what
you were used to). Ideally select a situation that is/was meaningful to
you: in other words, a situation where there are important personal stakes
for you behaving effectively and appropriately.
When you were in this situation, did you try to change your behavior to
accommodate to the new cultural rules? If so, what was that experience
like for you? How did it feel? Was it difficult? How did you overcome
this difficulty (be specific)? If you did not change your behavior, why
did you choose not to do so? What was that experience like for you?
January 28
Adapting Your Behavior Across Cultures
Reading: Finish Global Dexterity, Chapters 1-6
Assignment: Write and bring to class 1 page answer to the following
Last time, you wrote about a challenging intercultural encounter. This
time, explain how you might have used the Global Dexterity book to
adapt your behavior more successfully in this situation. Be as specific as
possible.
February 2
Case Study: Cultural Adaptation at a Japanese-US Joint Venture
Reading: The case study is provided at the following URL:
http://www.culture-at-work.com/usjapan.html
Assignment: Read this case about a Japanese and US joint venture and
be prepared to discuss and debate in class. As you read the case, think
about all the different perspectives we’ve covered so far, including
personality, decision-making, cultural differences, and cultural
adaptation
UNDERSTANDING INTERPERSONAL PROCESSES
February 4
Motivation
Reading: Chapter 7
February 9
Job Design
Reading: Chapter 8, p.216-221 only
February 11
Negotiation
Reading: Don’t Bargain Over Positions; Getting Past No (in course
reader)
February 16, 18
Vacation
February 23
QUIZ #1
No readings or assignments
February 25
Debrief Quiz & Project Group Work
No readings or assignments
March 1
Perspectives on Power
Reading: Chapter 13
March 3
Interpersonal Communication
Reading: “The Power of Talk” (in course reader)
March 8
Case study: Rob Parson at Morgan Stanley
Reading: Rob Parson at Morgan Stanley; The Firm-wide 360
Performance Evaluation Process at Morgan Stanley (in course reader)
Assignment: Think about the following questions and be prepared to
answer them in class
1) What is your assessment of Rob Parson’s performance?
Should he be promoted?
2) If you were Paul Nasr, how would you plan to conduct the
performance appraisal conversation? What would your
goals be? What issues would you raise and why, and how
would you raise them?
3) If you were Rob Parson, how would you conduct yourself in
the performance evaluation meeting? What are your goals?
Be prepared to role-play the appraisal conversation in class
as either Nasr or Parson.
March 10
The Challenge of Performing “Necessary Evils”
Reading. First-hand accounts of people performing necessary evils (to be
distributed in class)
Assignment: Think about the following four questions as you read the
material for today and be prepared to discuss in class:
1) What are the main difficulties people experience when performing
necessary evils?
2) What specific (positive and negative) thoughts and feelings do they
experience in the moment?
3) How do they cope with these thoughts and feelings (and still take
effective action)? What specific strategies do they use? What seems
to determine whether or not these strategies are successful?
4) How can organizations help or hinder the process (of doing a
necessary evil well and/or of coping)?
UNDERSTANDING GROUPS
March 15
Project Group Work
This is dedicated time inside class to work on your final projects. I will
go around to each group to answer questions/help with your projects.
March 17
Carter Racing
Reading: Carter Racing (in course reader)
Assignment: Write 1 page answer to the following question and bring
to class:
1) Would you race? Why? Why not?
March 22
Work Groups
Reading: Chapter 10
March 24
QUIZ #2
No readings or assignments
March 29
Debrief Quiz; Project Group Work
No readings or assignments
UNDERSTANDING ORGANIZATIONS AND THEIR LEADERS
March 31
Understanding Organizational Culture
Reading: Chapter 16
April 5
Orpheus: The Case of a Leaderless Orchestra
Reading: New York Times and New Yorker articles (in course reader)
Assignment: Read these articles carefully and reflect about whether
Orpheus truly is a group without a leader.
April 7
Leadership at Bain & Co.
Reading: “Orit Gadiesh: Pride at Bain & Co” (in course reader)
Think about the following questions as you read the case and come
prepared to discuss in class:
1) Describe and evaluate Orit Gadiesh’s leadership style. What are her
strengths and weaknesses?
2) What speech should she give? Why?
April 12
Panel Discussion
Professionals from the Boston area come to class to talk about their
experiences acting outside their comfort zones at work. Short
presentations by our guests plus Q&A with you!
April 14
Group Presentations in Class
April 19
Group Presentations in Class
Final Papers due in class April 19th.
Illustrations of illustrative scenarios
Source: http://patrick.boylan.it/courses/cultural/incidents/ci-test/exercise.html
Scenario 1:
Henry Lee from Hong Kong was assigned by his company to live in the United States in order to examine
the possibilities of joint business ventures. Henry had a specific place to go, an organization in Boston
whose representatives had earleir visited Hong Kong and who had suggested the idea of a person like
Henry visiting the Boston organization for an extended period. Henry was made to feel at home. This was
his first time out of Southeast Asia, but he had done some reading about the United States. He was invited
to a cocktail party at which many of the important figures in the Boston organization would be present.
Henry remembered from his reading that important conversation, which later might lead to actual business
decisions, were held at cocktail parties. Henry was anxious to make a good impression. Sure enough, at the
party he was introduced to Sean O'Neil, a company vice-president. Recognizing the name as Irish and
remembering from his reading that a good way to get others into a conversation is to discuss matters they
know about, Henry brought up matters like the Irish immigration in the mid-1800s, which had Boston as a
major target; Roman Catholicism; the distilling of Irish whiskey; and the current struggle in Northern
Ireland. Henry also brought up a few facts about the plans of his organization in Hong Kong. Mr. O'Neil
kept the conversation as short as possible and moved on to others at the party. Henry sensed that the
conversation did not go well and that he had not made a good impression with the vice-president.
What mistake did Henry make?
(1) He should have met Mr. O'Neil's wife before talking to the vice-president.
(2) He should have met others lower in the organization hierarchy before meeting O'Neil.
(3) His English was not good enough to keep up the conversation.
(4) He used a stereotype in choosing topics for conversation.
(5) The previous material he read about business at parties had been wrong-one should not discuss
business matters.
Scenario 2
STAFF MEETING
Alan, a business intern at a Japanese company, was looking forward to attending his first staff
meeting. Since the agenda included an issue that would be controversial in an American office,
Alan expected to encounter an interesting discussion. The meeting, however, ended up being
pretty dull: there were no pro and con arguments. Instead, people asked a few questions about the
issue, and some made brief comments in favor of one proposed solution.
Alan had heard that some of the staff disagreed with this proposed solution but they merely raised
a few minor questions. One committee member did state his objection; there was a moment of
silence, and no one responded. Then the chairperson asked if there were any other questions or
comments and brought the issue to a close. He didn't even call for a vote! In the end, Alan
thought, they hadn't discussed anything substantial at all.
Why do you think the staff members were relatively quiet at the meeting and voiced little dissent?
(1) They didn't have anything to say because the subject had nothing to do with them.
(2) Japanese don't know how to discuss issues because discussion is a relatively new concept in
Japan.
(3) Japanese people rarely discuss issues because everything is decided by a single authority.
(4) They had decided to avoid open confrontation in this instance, or probably they knew that the
issue had been settled beforehand.