This Course provides an overview of topics and concepts in the field of Organizational Behaviour (OB). Emphasis is on developing a theoretical grasp of issues and problems and an understanding of practical implications of various theories of human behaviour at work. This course introduces students to many of the basic principles of human behaviour that effective managers use when managing individuals and groups in organizations. Except for teaching/research positions one does not normally get a job in OB, rather because OB is horizontal discipline, OB concepts and lessons are applicable to virtually every job category, business function, and professional speciality. This course is designed to acquaint students with the theories of behaviour of people in social organizations. Specific topics include leadership, motivation, groups and Organizational culture.
Prerequisites:
There are no prerequisites to this course. However, completion of some of these subjects is preferred before taking the class: Business management, Leadership, Business communication, Strategic management.
Learning outcomes:
By the end of the module you will be able to:
Demonstrate understanding of the key concepts and ways of analysing factors relating to individuals, groups and organisations.
Distinguish between different types of employee performance, learning, personality and motivational theories.
Understand the importance of organisational behaviour in Business settings.
Identify the process of group formation, group structure, the role of the individual in groups and team working.
Identify and explain the historical changes in organisational structure and design and the importance of the concepts of conflict and institutions for organisations.
Work within a team to analyze real business problems and make substantive recommendations for improvements.
Method of presentation:
For this subject, each class will be divided into two sections; the first section will be a lecture covering the main concepts and theories for each of the topics relating to Organizational Behaviour. Followed by a tutorial during the second part of the class, in which practical exercises will be done in order to apply what was learned in the lecture. Activities for the tutorials will be directly related to the content of the lecture and the aim is to provide a practical application to the theories and concepts studied in class. Additionally students are expected to conduct a presentation on a research journal article (see appendix). This exercise aims at exposing the students to first hand scientific research in the field of OB.
Required work and form of assessment:
The assessment for this module consists of:
Class participation, based on the amount and quality of the student’s participation in class, accounting for 10% of the final mark.
A midterm exam, which will cover the concepts study from week one to six, accounting for 30% of the final mark.
A group presentation. Student will form groups of three at them most, and selected an article for their presentation from a list given of academic articles (see Appendix), accounting for 30% of the final mark.
A final exams, which will include all the material covered in the course, accounting for 30% of the final mark.
content:
Week 1: Introduction to the module Organisational Behaviour and its relevance
Learning outcomes:
Explain the importance of an understanding of Organizational behaviour
Understand the need for explanations of behaviour in organizations
Explain and illustrate the central dilemma of organizational behaviour
Week 2: Learning and personality
Learning outcomes:
Explain the characteristics of the behaviourist and cognitive approaches to learning
Understand and evaluate the techniques of behaviour modification
Describe features and implications of knowledge management and the learning organization
Understand different theories of personality and how do they relate to the learning process
Week 3: Motivation
Learning outcomes:
Understand different ways in which the term motivations is used
Understand the nature of motives and motivation posses as influences of behaviour
Explain the continues contemporary interest in this field and its current application and relevance
Week 4: Organizational Structures
Learning outcomes:
Explain the relevance and limitations of work designed
Identified the main elements of organization structure
Explain how organization structure affects human behaviour in organizations
Distinguish between the formal and the informal organization of a company
Week 5: Organizational Communication
Learning outcomes:
Describe the dimension of social intelligence and explain its importance
Identified the main barriers to effective interpersonal communication
Explain the nature and significance of non-verbal communication
Understand the ways in which corporate communication can be used to manipulate understanding and encourage compliance with management directions.
Week 6: Group formation
Learning outcomes:
List the characteristics of a group
Distinguish between different types of group tasks
Understand the four research phases of the Hawthorne studies.
Distinguish between formal and informal groups
Outline Homan’s theory of group formation
Week 7: In class midterm test
Week 8: Organizational Change
Learning outcomes:
Indentified the main external and internal triggers of Organizational change
Explain the difference between repeat change and painless change
Understand the nature of resistance to change and the approaches to overcome it
Explain the advantages and limitations of participative methods of change management
Outline the skill requirements for an effective change agent
Week 9: Leadership
Learning outcomes:
Indentified the main theories of leadership
Understand the relationship between leadership styles and subordinate responses
Explain the apparent differences between the concepts of leadership and management
Understand the relationship (or lack of it) between personality traits and effective leadership
Week 10: Organizational decision-making
Learning outcomes:
Distinguish between prescriptive, descriptive and explanatory models of decision-making.
Distinguish different decision conditions of the basis of risk and programmability
Match organizational conditions with the decision-making process that favours them.
Week 11: Organizational power and politics
Learning outcomes:
Appreciate the relevance of power and politics in organizational life.
Compare and contrast different perspectives on power
Distinguish between the rational and political models of organization
Identified the characteristics of individuals most likely to engage in political behaviour
Week 12: Final Exam
Required readings:
Buchanan, D. A., & Huczynski, A. A. (2010). Organizational behaviour (7th ed.). Harlow: Pearson Education Ltd.
Recommended readings:
Colquitt, J. A., LePine, J. A., & Wesson, M. J. (2011). Organizational behavior: improving performance and commitment in the workplace (2nd ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Irwin.
Baldwin, T, Bommer H, Rubin R, (2008) Developing Management Skills- What Great Managers aknow and do. New York, Mcgraw-Hill Publishers.
Northouse P, (2009) Leadership, Theory and Practice. Sage Publications, Inc; Fifth Edition edition
Other Resources:
APPENDIX:
Journal articles to choose from:
Article 1
Barrick, M. R., Shaffer, J. A., & DeGrassi, S. W. (2009). What you see may not be what you get: relationships among self-presentation tactics and ratings of interview and job performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 94:6, 1394-1411.
Question 1: What is the article by Barrick et al (2009) about?
Question 2: What are the justifications of the hypotheses and what are the actual findings of the study?
Question 3: How can organisations use the findings of this study in their selection process?
Article 2
Binnewies, C., Sonnentag, S., & Mojza, E. J. (2009). Daily performance at work: feeling recovered in the morning as a predictor of day-level job performance. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 30,67-93.
Question 1: What is the central research proposition of this article?
Question 2: Illustrate the findings of this research article. How are they explained by existing research?
Question 3: How can organisations translate Binnewies et al’s (2009) findings into practice?
Article 3
Bommer, W. H., Miles, E. W., & Grover, S. L. (2003). Does one good turn deserve another? Coworker influences on employee citizenship. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 24, 181-196.
Question 1: What are the central arguments and findings of the article?
Question 2: Illustrate the psychological mechanisms and theories of their hypotheses.
Question 3: What are the implications of this article for organisations?
Article 4
Heslin, P. A. (2009). Better than brainstorming? Potential contextual boundary conditions to brainwriting for idea generation in organizations. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 82, 129-145.
Question 1: What is the difference between brainstorming and brain-writing? What are the limitations of brainstorming?
Question 2: What is the evidence that brain-writing may be a more effective tool for idea generation than brainstorming in organisations? Why may this be the case?
Question 3: Illustrate the main contextual factors under which brain-writing is most effective in organisational life?
Article 5
Judge, T. A., Hurst, C., & Simon, L. S. (2009). Does it pay to be smart, attractive, or confident (or all three)? Relationships among general mental ability, physical attractiveness, core self-evaluations, and income. Journal of Applied Psychology, 94:3, 742-755.
Question 1: What is this article all about?
Question 2: What are the findings of this study?
Question 3: How can individuals make use of them?
Article 6
Ng, T. W. H., & Feldman, D. C. (2010). Human capital and objective indicators of career success: the mediating effects of cognitive ability and conscientiousness. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 83, 207-235.
Question 1: What is this article all about?
Question 2: What are the findings of this study?
Question 3: What are the implications of this study for individuals and for organisations?
Article 7
Robinson, S. L., & O'Leary-Kelly, A. M. (1998). Monkey see, monkey do: the influence of work groups on the antisocial behavior of employees. Academy of Management Journal, 41:6, 658-672.
Question 1: What is this article all about?
Question 2: Illustrate the main psychological mechanisms and theories underlying Robinson and O’Leary-Kelly’s (1998) study.
Question 3: Why is this article important for organisations?
Article 8
Romero, E., & Pescosolido, A. (2008). Humor and group effectiveness. Human Relations, 61:3, 395-418.
Question 1: What are the central arguments of this article?
Question 2: What are the main mechanisms as to why class two humour is likely to positively affect group effectiveness?
Question 3: How can organisations make use of Romero and Pescosolido’s (2008) propositions?
Article 9
Vignovic, J. A., & Foster Thompson, L. (2010). Computer-mediated cross-cultural collaboration: attributing communication errors to the person versus the situation. Journal of Applied Psychology, 95:2, 265-276.
Question 1: What is the article by Vignovic and Foster Thompson (2010) all about?
Question 2: What are the findings of the article?
Question 3: What are the implications of the findings for your communication at university and when searching for a job after graduation?
Article 10
Webster, J. R., Beehr, T. A., & Christiansen, N. D. (2010). Toward a better understanding of the effects of hindrance and challenge stressors on work behavior. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 76,68-77.
Question 1: What is the article by Webster et al (2010) about?
Question 2: What did the authors find in their study?
Question 3: What are the implications for organisations of this article?
Brief Biography of Instructor:
Martin Sposato is currently a Lecturer and PhD candidate at Middlesex University, London. His main academic interests are in the fields of cross culture Organizational Behaviour, and management in China. Before moving to the UK, Martin lived in Australia where he obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Business and in China where he gained his MA in Global Business Management, staying on and working as a consultant for several years.
Managing Behaviour In Organisations
This Course provides an overview of topics and concepts in the field of Organizational Behaviour (OB). Emphasis is on developing a theoretical grasp of issues and problems and an understanding of practical implications of various theories of human behaviour at work. This course introduces students to many of the basic principles of human behaviour that effective managers use when managing individuals and groups in organizations. Except for teaching/research positions one does not normally get a job in OB, rather because OB is horizontal discipline, OB concepts and lessons are applicable to virtually every job category, business function, and professional speciality. This course is designed to acquaint students with the theories of behaviour of people in social organizations. Specific topics include leadership, motivation, groups and Organizational culture.
There are no prerequisites to this course. However, completion of some of these subjects is preferred before taking the class: Business management, Leadership, Business communication, Strategic management.
By the end of the module you will be able to:
For this subject, each class will be divided into two sections; the first section will be a lecture covering the main concepts and theories for each of the topics relating to Organizational Behaviour. Followed by a tutorial during the second part of the class, in which practical exercises will be done in order to apply what was learned in the lecture. Activities for the tutorials will be directly related to the content of the lecture and the aim is to provide a practical application to the theories and concepts studied in class. Additionally students are expected to conduct a presentation on a research journal article (see appendix). This exercise aims at exposing the students to first hand scientific research in the field of OB.
The assessment for this module consists of:
Week 1: Introduction to the module Organisational Behaviour and its relevance
Learning outcomes:
Week 2: Learning and personality
Learning outcomes:
Week 3: Motivation
Learning outcomes:
Week 4: Organizational Structures
Learning outcomes:
Week 5: Organizational Communication
Learning outcomes:
Week 6: Group formation
Learning outcomes:
Week 7: In class midterm test
Week 8: Organizational Change
Learning outcomes:
Week 9: Leadership
Learning outcomes:
Week 10: Organizational decision-making
Learning outcomes:
Week 11: Organizational power and politics
Learning outcomes:
Week 12: Final Exam
APPENDIX:
Journal articles to choose from:
Article 1
Barrick, M. R., Shaffer, J. A., & DeGrassi, S. W. (2009). What you see may not be what you get: relationships among self-presentation tactics and ratings of interview and job performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 94:6, 1394-1411.
Article 2
Binnewies, C., Sonnentag, S., & Mojza, E. J. (2009). Daily performance at work: feeling recovered in the morning as a predictor of day-level job performance. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 30,67-93.
Article 3
Bommer, W. H., Miles, E. W., & Grover, S. L. (2003). Does one good turn deserve another? Coworker influences on employee citizenship. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 24, 181-196.
Article 4
Heslin, P. A. (2009). Better than brainstorming? Potential contextual boundary conditions to brainwriting for idea generation in organizations. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 82, 129-145.
Article 5
Judge, T. A., Hurst, C., & Simon, L. S. (2009). Does it pay to be smart, attractive, or confident (or all three)? Relationships among general mental ability, physical attractiveness, core self-evaluations, and income. Journal of Applied Psychology, 94:3, 742-755.
Article 6
Ng, T. W. H., & Feldman, D. C. (2010). Human capital and objective indicators of career success: the mediating effects of cognitive ability and conscientiousness. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 83, 207-235.
Article 7
Robinson, S. L., & O'Leary-Kelly, A. M. (1998). Monkey see, monkey do: the influence of work groups on the antisocial behavior of employees. Academy of Management Journal, 41:6, 658-672.
Article 8
Romero, E., & Pescosolido, A. (2008). Humor and group effectiveness. Human Relations, 61:3, 395-418.
Article 9
Vignovic, J. A., & Foster Thompson, L. (2010). Computer-mediated cross-cultural collaboration: attributing communication errors to the person versus the situation. Journal of Applied Psychology, 95:2, 265-276.
Article 10
Webster, J. R., Beehr, T. A., & Christiansen, N. D. (2010). Toward a better understanding of the effects of hindrance and challenge stressors on work behavior. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 76,68-77.
Martin Sposato is currently a Lecturer and PhD candidate at Middlesex University, London. His main academic interests are in the fields of cross culture Organizational Behaviour, and management in China. Before moving to the UK, Martin lived in Australia where he obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Business and in China where he gained his MA in Global Business Management, staying on and working as a consultant for several years.