M&IS 34185 Summer III 2006 DuBois

                                    Individual and Group Behavior (M&IS 34185)

 

 

 

Dr. Cathy L. Z. DuBois

            Office: BSA A412

            Phone:  672-1157 (office); 672-2448 (fax; you must use a cover page with my name)

            E-mail address: cdubois@kent.edu

            Office hours: Tuesday & Thursday 5:00-6:00 pm

 

 

 

Champoux, J. E. (2006).  Organizational Behavior: Integrating Individuals, Groups and Organizations (3^rd edition; paperback).  Thomson South-Western Publishing.

 

Champoux, J. E. (2006).  Our Feature Presentation.  Thomson South-Western Publishing.

 

NOTE: these 2 books are packaged together at a reduced price.  If you purchase used books that do not have access codes available, you will not have access to some course materials.

 

 

This course will examine a range of individual and group behavior in organizations, and will explore the individual and organizational antecedents and consequences of such behavior in the contexts of organizational and social climates.  The course will begin by examining the context of modern organizational behavior and management.  We will then explore the topics at the individual level of analysis, the group and interpersonal level of analysis, and finally the organizational level of analysis. 

 

Keep in mind throughout the course that people are an incredibly valuable organizational resource.  It is people, both as individuals and as groups, who are responsible for an organization achieving or falling short of its goals.  To best utilize human talent toward the accomplishment of organizational goals, a solid understanding of individual and group behavior is essential.

 

This is a survey course, so we will cover a broad array of content areas associated with individual and group behavior, such as individual differences, attitudes, motivation, performance management, communication, teams, power and politics, conflict, and organizational culture. Because you have had some exposure to these topics in other courses, my goal is to extend your knowledge beyond what you have already learned.  Our focus will include a mix of prescriptive and descriptive approaches to dealing with individuals and groups within an organization.  We will discuss research and theory, as well as current practice in organizations.

 

            1.  Provide students with an appreciation of the range of individual and group behavior that is of interest in the work setting.

 

            2.  Increase student appreciation of the importance of individual and group behavior in the workplace, with respect to individual and organizational consequences.

 

            3.  Promote the extension of the knowledge that students gain in this course to the analysis and improvement of their own organizational performance and professional development.

 

            4.  Promote the extension of the knowledge that students gain in this course to the analysis and improvement of the job performance and the professional development of any employees who might report to them.

 

To a large extent, lectures will not just review what you read at home.  Class time will be used to cover material that is not in the text or readings, to present knowledge organizing frameworks, for discussion of readings and current events, and for group/individual exercises.  Everything we do in class will be far more meaningful if you read the assigned material before class.  In fact, most of the exercises and cases we do will depend upon your having read the assigned material before class.

 

Since most of you have held at least one job, you have participated in individual and group behavior at work.  I encourage you to share your experiences and insights in class discussions. 

 

If you to miss class, it is your responsibility to obtain associated lecture notes & handouts from someone in the class (please don't ask for my notes; I don't have detailed written lecture notes).

 

 

 

Individual grades will be based on the following:

            Exams                                                  40%     (2 exams, 20% each; non-overlapping)

            Quizzes                                                10%     (5 quizzes, at 2% each)

            Class Participation                                20%     (includes in class exercises)

            OB-in-the-news presentation                10%

            Reflection Paper                                   20%

 

I will use +/- grades for this course.   Assignment of final grades will most likely be:  92+ A, 90-91 A-, 88-89 B+, 82-87 B, 80-81 B-, 78-79 C+, 72-77 B, 70-71 C-, 68-69 D+, 60-67 D, 0-59 F.  I reserve the right to curve these final grades, up or down, based on my perception of the involvement and effort of class members throughout the course.  Note that it is not possible to raise your grade with an extra credit project; please don’t ask me about this.

Exams

Exams will include some questions drawn from material covered in lecture only, some from book material not discussed in class, and some from overlapping book/lecture material.  Therefore, in order to do well on the tests, you need to attend class regularly and read the text.  If you are concerned about your initial exam grade, please see me immediately.  I can help you with study strategy, review your study notes, etc.  Don't wait until week 5 of the course to approach me about your performance -- it's too late to rescue your grade at that point!

 

Exam dates will be rigidly adhered to.  Should you miss a scheduled exam without receiving prior written authorization from me, you will be assigned 0 points for that exam or case, with no opportunity to make up those points.  Written authorization from me requires that you submit a written rescheduling form to me at least 1 day prior to the exam or case date.  I will grant approval to reschedule only if you have documentation that supports a university-approved reason for absence.

There will be 5 unannounced quizzes throughout the course.  Each quiz will have 10 multiple choice questions, and will cover the material that students were supposed to read for that class period.  These quizzes should motivate you to read the material prior to class!

 

Class Participation

Class discussions will be much more meaningful if you have read and thought about the appropriate material prior to class.  Come to class with notes on chapters and questions to ask. Also, use this opportunity to bring up salient work experiences that we can all learn from. 

 

Be aware that class participation is a subjective evaluation.  I will do my best to make an objective assessment of the quality and quantity of your class contributions, but I can't tally how many times you speak up and the quality of what you say in a completely objective manner.  Thus, it's your responsibility to make sure I notice your contributions.  Also, if you don’t volunteer, be prepared to answer if I call on you.   Obviously, if you don’t read the assigned material before class, your contributions will be of questionable merit.

 

For most jobs, oral communication skills are essential for job effectiveness.  I expect you to practice and display your oral communication skills in class.  Keep in mind that even introverted people can develop excellent oral communication skills.

 

The purpose of these presentations is to make you aware of how many Organizational Behavior-related articles routinely appear in the popular press.  We will see how they reflect OB issues that are of current interest to employers and employees, and how they shed light on the evolving organizational issues. 

 

Each student will present a brief summary of an OB-related article that appeared in the recent popular press (such as newspapers, online news sources, news magazines; do not use OB or Human Resource Management research or practitioner journals for articles).  The article can reflect any topic we cover in this course, and does not have to reflect the class topic of the particular day that you present. 

Each student will be allowed a maximum of 5 minutes for their presentation; the question/answer session with class members on the article can extend beyond this time frame.  Make sure that your presentation takes the full 5 minutes.  If your article is short, you will need to either select a different article or combine several related articles to get 5 minutes worth of material to present.

 

Keep in mind that presentation style has a significant impact on the effectiveness of your presentation.  I expect this to be a professional presentation. Use PowerPoint to summarize main points (use 30+ point font).  Do not chew gum, read from the article or from notecards, or do anything else that makes you look unprepared.  Do dress appropriately, look at and connect with your audience, “own” the material you are presenting, monitor your time, smile and seem interested!  See the Evaluation Forms section on the course website for grading criteria.

 

Select 5 topics in this course to which you can relate personally.  Write reflections on each topic, with regard to how the principles you learn in this course are reflected in or apply to your personal or work life.  Be sure to structure your paper clearly; include an introduction and conclusion, and use subheadings throughout the paper to indicate sections.  Grading criteria for this paper include insightfulness of the thinking behind the writing, substance of the writing, clarity of the writing, use of correct grammar, spelling and formatting, and integration of course concepts and terminology.  Use 12 point font and 1 inch margins; length should be between 10 and 15 pages.  Include a cover sheet, and simply staple the pages together in the upper left corner (no folders/notebooks of any kind).

 

 

There are several courses in the College of Business Administration that cover some content that is related to this course.  Specifically, Principles of Management covers topics related to motivation, leadership, teams, communication and organizational design; Dynamics of Leadership covers leadership, decision-making, and change management.  In this course we will cover some of these topics (motivation and teams), but hopefully at a somewhat different level that these topics are covered in Principles of Management.  I have eliminated the chapters on leadership and change management from our syllabus because they are covered extensively in the Dynamics of Leadership course.  If you are not planning to take the Dynamics of Leadership course, then it would serve you well to read these chapters on your own.  Keep in mind that much of our learning in life is self-directed; successful adults do not need formal coursework to motivate them to learn what they need to know to succeed in the workplace.

 

Finally, please keep me informed about content overlap issues as they arise in this course.  Do remember that learning occurs in layers, and some repetition of material is helpful to the long-term knowledge acquisition process.  However, too much repetition can be a waste of your time. 

A.     Students attending the course who do not have the proper prerequisite risk being deregistered from the class.  Students have responsibility to ensure they are properly enrolled in classes.  Should you find an error in your class schedule, you need to correct the error with your advising office no later than Tuesday, May 23, 2006 for Intersession 2006 – Thursday, June 15 for Summer I – Sunday, June 18 for Summer II - and Thursday, July 20 for Summer III.  If registration errors are not corrected by these dates 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.

 

B.     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.  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.

 

C.      Course Withdrawal:

Intersession 2006 course withdrawal deadline is Friday, June 2, 2006

Summer I 2006 course withdrawal deadline is Monday, July 3, 2006

Summer II 2006 course withdrawal deadline is Sunday, July 16, 2006

Summer III 2006 course withdrawal deadline is Monday, August 7, 2006

Course withdrawal before the deadline results in a "W" on the official transcript; after the deadline a grade must be calculated and reported. Please consult with an academic advisor in the Undergraduate Programs Office (Room 107, BSA – 330-672-2872) if you are having academic difficulty.

 

D.    Students with disabilities:

University policy 3342-3-18 requires that students with disabilities be provided reasonable accommodations to ensure their equal access equal access course content.  If you have 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 the Student Disability Services (contact 330-672-3391 or visit www.kent.edu/sds for more information on registration procedures).

Date                             Topic                                                                                       Readings

 

PART 1:  OB Issues and Individuals in the Organization

 

July 18                         Introduction to OB                                                                   Chapter 1

                                    The Context of Modern Organizations                           Chapter 2

                                                                                                                                   

July 20                         Ethics & Behavior in Organizations                                            Chapter 3

                                    Organizational Culture                                                   Chapter 4

                                                                                                                                   

July 25                         Perception, Attitude & Personality                                            Chapter 5

                                    Motivation: Need Theories                                                        Chapter 7

                                                                                                                                   

July 27                         Motivation: Cognitive & Behavioral Theories                 Chapter 8

                                    Intrinsic Rewards & Job Design                                                Chapter 9   

                                                                                                                                   

August 1                       EXAM 1

 

August 1                       Organizational Socialization                                                      Chapter 6

                                   

August 3                       Class will not meet:  Work on paper for class and read ahead

                                                                                                                                   

August 8                       Groups & Intergroup Processes                                                Chapter 10

                                    Conflict in Organizations                                                           Chapter 11

 

August 10                     Decision Making & Problem Solving                                         Chapter 14

                                    Power & Political Behavior                                                       Chapter 15

 

August 15                     Stress in Organizations                                                  Chapter 16

                                    Future Directions in OB                                                            Chapter 19

 

Auust 17                      EXAM 2