KENT STATE UNIVERSITY

INDIVIDUAL AND GROUP BEHAVIOR IN ORGANIZATIONS

MI&S 34185—SPRING 2009—Section #001—Call #10828

MONDAYS, 5:30PM-08:15 PM, BSA 208

Instructor:      Dr. Deborah Knapp

Office:            College of Business Administration, Department of Management & Information Systems, BSA A424 (Department website: http://mismain.bsa.kent.edu/)

Telephone:          330.672.1147

E-mail:            dknapp1@kent.edu —the best way to get a quick response!

Office Hours: Tuesdays 3:00p-6:00p (Stark Campus), Thursdays 3:30p-5:30p (and if my door is open, come on in!)

MATERIALS

Text

Robbins & Judge.  (2009). Organizational Behavior (13^th Ed.). Pearson-Prentice Hall: Upper Saddle River, NJ.

Course Notes

All course materials are available at My Courses (it can be found at your Flashline account); a copy of the syllabus can also be found at the Department of Management & Information Systems website at http://mismain.bsa.kent.edu/

COURSE PREREQUISITES

PREREQUISITE: M&IS 24163 Principles of Management (students that do not have the proper prerequisites risk being deregistered from the class).

COURSE DESCRIPTION

A summary of the key components we will explore during the semester include:

¨      The impact of personality, ability, and creativity on organizational functioning;

¨      The issue of group dynamics and methods for managing groups and teams effectively;

¨      The role that individual, group, and organizational learning plays in organizational functioning

¨         The perceptions, attitudes, and values of individuals and the part they play in organizational functioning;

¨         The importance of individual and organizational decision making and the determinants of successful decision making;

¨         The application of motivational theories for improving individual, group, and organizational functioning;

¨         An examination of the methods required for successfully addressing the issues of conflict and stress;

¨      The elements of successful communication;

¨      The role of leadership, power, politics, and influence in organizations; and

¨         The impact of organizational processes (i.e., organizational structure, organizational culture, and organizational change) on individual and group behavior and organizational success.

Understanding the determinants of your own behavior as well as those people with whom you interact may well impact your ability to not only succeed at work, but also to enjoy the time you spend working—which is also the place you will spend a good part of your adult life.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

The fundamental purpose of this course is to provide the student with a heightened awareness and increased understanding of: 1) the basic concepts and processes that affect the behavior of individuals and groups in organizations; 2) how this behavior affects organizational functioning; and 3) the importance and complexities of managing human behavior in organizational settings.  Through lecture and class discussions, we shall not only address these issues, but will also consider the contributions of organizational behavior research to an improved understanding individual and group behavior.  Moreover, the application of organizational behavior research and theory to short- and long-term organizational functioning will be explored.  Finally, the course will provide a basis for understanding how interactions among organizational members might assist in moving an organization toward its goals.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

Exams

Three exams are scheduled for the semester.  All exams will cover text readings, handouts, guest speakers, and lecture material.  The format of the exams may include multiple choice, matching, and/or short answer essay questions.  Each exam accounts for 25% of your final grade.

Cases and Experiential Exercises

Experiential exercises and cases will provide an opportunity for students to apply many of the concepts covered in this course. In addition to the influence these cases and exercises will have on your participation grade, your case/exercise evaluation grade also depends on the quality and quantity of cases and exercises you complete during the semester. Cases and exercises may be evaluated as groups (to be assigned during the first week of class) or on an individual basis. Generally, cases/exercises will be conducted during class (although some outside work will be required occasionally) and your written work will be collected when the discussion concerning the case or exercise is completed. If you are not in class, you will receive a zero for that class period’s case or exercise (only in extraordinary circumstances will make-up cases be allowed). However, you may miss one case without penalty during the semester. Cases account for 15% of your total grade.

Participation:

Students will receive credit for class participation, which will account for 5% of your final grade. Obviously, consistent attendance at class is required to earn an acceptable grade for class participation.  Each individual will be evaluated on the quality and quantity of her/his participation during class sessions.  To receive an acceptable participation grade, you must be consistently knowledgeable concerning all assigned readings and you must actively participate in class discussions.

Internet Assignment

Students will be expected to find and summarize information relating to course topics that they find on the internet.  By using simple internet searches or by using internet sites with which you are already familiar, you should identify a website that relates to the course (you may wish to use your text to select a course-related topic against which to search).  Once you find a website that interests you, you will be asked to share your findings with the class by preparing a one- or two-paragraph summary about the site you select and presenting this information to the class (be sure to include the web address of the site that you "visit").  Please do not copy the work of others—once a student has presented a web site, it may not be used again (however, websites with “abundant” content—i.e., that consist of many separate web pages—may allow for more than one student to present a different area of the site; be sure to contact the professor before you use a website that has already been presented).  The internet assignment is worth 5% of your final grade.

GRADES

Grades will be calculated according to performance on the three exams (25% each), case/exercises (15%), participation (5%), and internet assignment (5%).  Final grades will be assigned as follows:

Registration: Students have responsibility to ensure they are properly enrolled in classes.  You are advised to review your official class schedule (using Web for Students) 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 Sunday, February 1, 2009 to correct the error with your advising office.  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.

Course Withdrawal Deadline:  The course withdrawal deadline is Sunday, April 5, 2009.

CLASS PROCEDURES

1.    If my office hours are not convenient for you, please feel free to call for an appointment. Also, the most efficient way to communicate with me is via e-mail. I strongly encourage you to take advantage of the electronic messaging capabilities made available to you by the university!

2.    Please tell me about any problems you are having while there is still time to do something about them!

3.    Each student must turn in an original piece of work (copies will not be accepted; however, you may work together on your case/exercise assignments).

4.    Exams are to be taken at the scheduled time (this also means you need to be on time for the exam—more than 20 minutes late is a missed exam).  If you miss an exam due to a legitimate reason (e.g., illness, death in the immediate family), a make-up exam will be provided (you will be required to provide an official university excuse to be eligible for a make-up exam). Make-up exams are essay format. If you do not provide a legitimate excuse, no make-up exam will be granted.

5.    Reading assignments should be completed prior to class attendance so that you may participate in class discussion.  However, we will not discuss every aspect of the assigned chapters or supplemental material.  This does not release the student from the responsibility of knowing the material for examination purposes.  Conversely, I will cover material in class that may not be covered by the text (you are also responsible for this information).

6.    Attendance at class is expected.  If you miss a class, YOU are responsible for obtaining lecture notes and other material from another student. This includes notes for test reviews. DO NOT E-MAIL ME WITH A QUESTION SUCH AS “DID I MISS ANYTHING?” DO NOT ASK TO BORROW MY NOTES! To succeed in this course, you must read your book and attend class. Moreover, missed classes will negatively affect your participation grade.

7.    Please consider forming study groups to prepare for the examinations. Nearly without exception, my experience has been that students who are members of study groups improve their exam grades and their understanding and retention of course material.

8.    Major grammatical or spelling errors on any written work could result in a significant penalty with respect to the grade you receive.  Carefully proof your papers for errors (you may even want to have a friend read your work). Use grammar and spell check!

9.    Do not come late to class in order to complete an internet assignment or finish an exercise/ assignment. If this is the case, the assignment will not be accepted. Moreover, coming to class shortly before dismissal will result in a lower participation grade.

10.   You must use the internet and World Wide Web to communicate with me and receive an acceptable grade. You must update your FLASHLINE account as this is the e-mail address to which I will be sending all class correspondence.

11.   I have attempted to create a course that will be both fun and informative, but please do not mistake the levity that will characterize much of our class time as an indication that this is not a serious course or that I don’t take my responsibility as your professor seriously. That our class is relatively large is both advantageous and somewhat problematic. The benefit of a large class is that there are many perspectives from which we all can learn. A potential drawback arises when students share their insights only with those classmates in their immediate area.  When this happens, the rest of the class not only misses what might be an enlightening point, but the resulting background noise also distracts other students from what is being discussed—either in the front of the classroom or by a fellow classmate who has the floor. For these reasons, I expect, nay, demand that during discussions everyone be respectful of others by following a few simple but important rules: 1) if you wish to discuss/share your idea or point of view, you do so with the entire class only when you are recognized and have the floor; 2) while others are speaking, please do not engage in discussions with those around you; and 3) if you must have a private discussion with someone in class, please leave the classroom to do so with as little disruption as is possible.  If these rules are not followed, the resulting disruptions during class discussions or lecture will result in dismissal from the classroom for the day.

POLICY ON ACADEMIC DISHONESTY

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 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.

REGARDING STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES (Revised 6/01/07)

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 for more information on registration procedures).