MIS 34185 Fall 2011 Curley (LCCC)

Management and Information Systems – Course #34185 Section #900

Individual & Group Behavior in Organizations

Lorain – University Center Building, Room 325 

Class meeting:  Fall, 2011 - Monday, 4:35 pm - 7:20 pm

Instructor:  Dr. Mark H. Curley

E-mail mhcurley@yahoo.com

Office Hours:  Before and after class, or by appointment

 Course Objectives

You have spent most of your life in organizations (schools, sports and/or community organizations, etc.). Your work life will involve working with, in, or for organizations, and, at some point, possibly creating your own business enterprise and/or a service organization to help your community. The purpose of this course is to help you understand how people and organizations function, based on the latest social science research on work, workers, and organizations. The goals of this course are:

1. To help you learn how to effectively manage your relationships with coworkers, managers, subordinates, clients and customers;

2. To begin acquainting you with the ever-growing body of evidence that will be available to you throughout your career regarding effective organizations and management practice;

3. So that you can ultimately become a literate, well-informed professional, able to make decisions that reflect best available evidence regarding effective practice. 

Required Reading

1.      Stephen P. Robbins, & Timothy A. Judge. 2011. Organizational Behavior (14^th edition). Pearson/Prentice Hall.

2.      Additional readings (journal articles and cases) will be assigned throughout the course as indicated in the class schedule below.

3.      For the “Get the Evidence” assignment and your own professional development, I encourage you to become familiar with other sources, especially those available electronically through GoogleScholar.com or KSU Electronic Library Database. Relevant social science journals include the Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of Management, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Organization Science and Personnel Psychology.

Course Requirements:

The course will contain the following elements:

Critical Thinking Comments (article assignments):

During the course you will be required to read two scholarly organizational behavior articles that will be made available through Vista. You will then write a 1-2 page thought-provoking commentary. Your commentary should show that you have read the material and thought about it and its implications.  Integrate concepts from the course material. This assignment is designed to encourage critical thinking about the material. Each critical thinking assignment will be worth up to 10 points each.

 Ethical Dilemma assignments

Two ethical dilemma case studies will be assigned from the textbook.  Each of the questions for the ethical dilemma must be answered.  Please be sure to be thorough in your response and in your written report the questions are responded to in the numeric sequence.  These assignments should be 2-3 pages in length and will be worth up to 15 points each.

“Get the Evidence” assignments - Responding to a Managerial Challenge: Throughout your career you will face tough, challenging decisions regarding how to deal with individuals, work groups, or your organization generally. Making important decisions takes time because it is worthwhile to obtain the best evidence in determining the proper course of action to produce a quality result. I will give you a managerial challenge and it is your task to evaluate relevant and best available social science research and to identify the best approach based upon that evidence. The criterion for grading this assignment is how effectively you integrate the best evidence from the array of relevant research. You will hand in your 1-2 summary of your response to the challenge.  In your summary you will include the following:

1. Identify the components of the challenge from your perspective.
2. Summarize your solution.  Be sure to incorporate relevant research support (integrate and cite the sources).
3. Be prepared to discuss your response in class.  Students will be randomly chosen to present their solution to the challenge at hand. It is suggested that you also have several bullet points to make your argument should you be chosen.

Please note:  Your evidence must come from academic business journals noted above under Course Objectives.  There will be two challenges assigned.  Each of these challenges is worth 20 points.

Exams: There will be two examinations (mid-term and final) composed of short answer and essay questions derived from the content of the readings, films, and lectures.  Each exam is worth 40 points.  The final exam is not cumulative.

Group Research Project:

It is virtually impossible to cover every topic relating to organizational behavior in one semester.  During the 3^rd week of class, you will sign up for a group in order to participate in a research project which will culminate in a 15 minute presentation near the end of the semester. Each group will consist of 3 students working collaboratively to examine a topic/area in-depth.  During the 4th week of class each group will identify the topic/area they wish to research.  A list of possible topics will be discussed in class. Please have a first and second choice.  A detailed outline of your presentation is to be handed in at the time of your presentation.  A document representing your research with a bibliography (including at least 5 scholarly sources, i.e. journal articles, books – not popular magazines) must also be provided for your classmates.  A separate outline detailing the assignment will be given.  Please note that a preliminary bibliography is due on Oct. 17.

Each group member will be asked to assign a score of 0-5 for other members of the group.  If the majority of group members give a zero to a member because he or she did not do any of the work, this individual will not earn credit for the group project.  The group project is worth 30 points.

Grading

Ethical Dilemma assignments             2 @ 15 points = 30 points

Critical Thinking Assignments            2 @ 10 points = 20 points

“Get the Evidence” assignments        2 @ 20 points = 40 points

Group Project                                      30 points

Exams                                                 2 @ 40 points = 80 points

            TOTAL POINTS: 250

The grading scale is predetermined to ensure that you always know your grade in the class.  Grades will be based on the absolute standard below, and will not be curved. Grading will be based on the following factors and weighting:

Scale for final letter: A (186-200); A- (180-185); B+ (174-179); B (166-173); B- (160-165); C+ (154-159); C (146-153); C- (140-145); D+ (134-139); D (126-133); and F (Below 126).

Course Withdrawal Deadline

The course withdrawal deadline is Sunday, November 6, 2011.

Enrollment/Official Registration

Students have responsibility to ensure they are properly enrolled in classes.  You are advised to review your official class schedule (using Student Tools on FlashLine) during the first two weeks of the semester to ensure you are properly enrolled in this class and section.  Should you find an error in your class schedule, you have until September 11, 2011 to correct the error.  If registration errors are not corrected by this date and you continue to attend and participate in classes for which you are not officially enrolled, you are advised now that you will not receive a grade at the conclusion of the semester for any class in which you are not properly registered. 

Academic Honesty

Cheating means to misrepresent the source, nature, or other conditions of your academic work (e.g., tests, papers, projects, assignments) so as to get undeserved credit.   In addition, it is considered to be cheating when one cooperates with someone else in any such misrepresentation.  The use of the intellectual property of others without giving them appropriate credit is a serious academic offense.  It is the University's policy that cheating or plagiarism result in receiving a failing grade for the work or course.  Repeat offenses result in dismissal from the University.

Students with Disabilities

University policy 3342-3-01.3 requires that students with disabilities be provided reasonable accommodations to ensure their equal access to course content. If you have a documented disability and require accommodations, please contact the instructor at the beginning of the semester to make arrangements for necessary classroom adjustments. Please note, you must first verify your eligibility for these through Student Accessibility Services (contact 330-672-3391 or visit www.kent.edu/sas <http://www.registrars.kent.edu/disability/> for more information on registration procedures). 

Graduation Information

It is your responsibility to apply for graduation before the set deadline. If you apply after the deadline you will be assessed a $200 late fee. Please see your academic advisor as soon as possible if you are uncertain as to your progress toward graduation.  The graduation application deadlines are follows:

 Graduation Application Deadlines:

May Graduation: Apply before September 15th

August Graduation: Apply before December 15th

December Graduation: Apply before March 15th

To apply for graduation complete the following steps:

1.       Log onto your Flashline account

2.       Click on the Student Tools tab

3.       Look in the Graduation Planning Tool Box

4.       Click on Application for Graduation

**If an error message appears, you must contact your advisor.

COURSE CALENDAR

 The instructor reserves the right to modify this schedule according to the needs and progress of the class.