GBUS 653: Organizational Behavior Master Syllabus
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Course Website: Canvas
Course Description
Understanding human behavior in organizations requires a variety of skills. For example, before one can analyze behavior–let alone change it–one must observe it accurately. Likewise, a management or behavioral concept is of little value until one is able to link it to experience and vary behavior accordingly.
Finally, understanding and skills improve with practice and feedback. Accordingly, the course design incorporates all these dimensions of learning through the use of cases, exercises, group work, self-reflection, readings, discussion, lectures, written work, and opportunities for feedback. Another reason for the diversity of activities is that different people have different learning styles and thus need different types of learning experiences.
Course Objective
To change the way, you think about and analyze behavior in organizations so that you become a more thoughtful, effective and successful employee, co-worker, and manager.
Learning Goals
- Students should become familiar with the major concepts of organizational behavior.
- Students should understand how the structures of organizational systems affect human behavior.
- Students should become familiar with the kinds of issues managers encounter and with principles, practices and models that help managers deal with these issues.
- Students should examine the relationships among people within organizational systems and see how they influence organizational effectiveness.
- Students should deepen their understanding of their own behavior in organizations and improve their interpersonal and managerial skills and thus their professional success.
- TEAMING AND LEADING GBUS PROGRAM GOAL: Students will demonstrate the team leadership and interpersonal skills needed to form, lead, and work effectively on diverse organizational teams.
- COMMUNICATION SKILLS GBUS PROGRAM GOAL: Students will be able to use their new understanding to critique organizational policies and practices and to design superior policies and practices.
- ETHICS AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY GBUS PROGRAM GOAL: Students will have a commitment to professional and social responsibility in the conduct of managerial affairs.
Course Methodology
The class format will combine reading, discussions, research, group presentations, and other learning tools. The class will be interactive and require every student to be engaged in the classroom discussion and assignments. In addition to the lectures and timely completion of assignments, every student will be expected to be an avid consumer of organizational behavior trends, an active participant and a dedicated individual applying what you learn to every element of the course work.
Required textbook(s) and/or materials
Most readings are available through the class Canvas site or from Harvard Business Publishing (for $4.50 each).
For the assigned videos (YouTube & TED talks) and some of the other assigned readings, I provide links within the appropriate week.
Finally, the Simulation is available through a HBP Course Pack.
Our library has access to Harvard Business Review and you can print out many HBR readings by accessing them on the library’s website and then printing them as PDFs. You can also use this approach to access the other assigned journal articles or to access non-assigned articles you may want to read for your own education or when working on assignments.
I strongly recommend that you download all the readings before the first class, to make sure you have them when you need them. If you are unable to access a reading, let me know so I can fix the problem.
Study the readings:
I encourage you to not only read the assigned papers but to analyze them carefully. Think about each reading from both a conceptual and a practical perspective. As you read the papers, ask yourself:
- What are the key concepts and principles?
- What are the key points or arguments?
- So what? Why does this matter for the organization?
- What are the implications for my professional behavior and success?
- What is wrong with this paper? What critique might I make?
Course Grading
Grading Scale: A = 94-100; A- = 90-93; B+= 87-89; B = 84-86; B- = 80-83; C+ = 77- 79; C = 73-76; C- = 69-70; D+ = 65-68 D = 61-64; F = 60 and below.
Letter Grading Details:
Semester grades will depend on the total points you earn on the assignments, using the percentage cutoffs shown above. Scores exactly at a cutoff will be assigned the higher grade. In addition, if a student falls just below a grade boundary and has made exceptional contributions to class discussion, I will move his or her grade up. Do not count on this – it will be unusual and will not apply to students more than half a percent below the boundary (e.g., a 92.49% will always be an A-).
Course Evaluation
Teaching – Learning Strategies
- Midterm Exam
- Science Meets Practice Paper
- Science Meets Practice Presentation
- Final Exam
- Discussion Board Participation
- Simulation Assignment
| Grading Components | Percentage of Course Grade |
| Midterm Exam | 15% |
| Final Exam | 15% |
| Science Meets Practice Presentation | 10% |
| Science Meets Practice Paper | 15% |
| Weekly Discussion Board Participation | 30% |
| Simulation Assignment | 15% |
| Total | 100% |
Grading Rubrics
Throughout your time in GBUS 653, you will complete a variety of coursework, all of which is detailed in this section of the syllabus. The instructor of your course will grade your coursework using a structured grading rubric. To view any of the rubrics used in this course, navigate to the left-hand menu of the online course, click on “My Grades” and then click on the “View Rubric” button near a particular piece of coursework. This will give you full transparency into how your instructor will assess the quality of your work.
Midterm Exam - 15%
General Instructions
Every response should reference specific material from GBUS 653, rather than being based simply on your opinions or experiences. When drawn from a reading, cite the reading with the format (Authors, date). When your concepts are drawn from a lecture only, use the format (Lecture, date). Be certain that your response is directly related to the question asked rather than the question you think I should have asked or hoped I would ask. Be as concise and direct as possible while covering all parts of the question. Define terms as needed to ensure that your argument is unambiguous. Use bullet points only if you feel that they effectively communicate your depth of understanding or aid in making for a compelling answer. Adhere to the word limit for each item. Citations and references will not count against the word count—and are required.
Operational Instructions
- Enter your answers in the boxes provided after the questions.
- Answer the 3 questions.
- There is a 250-word limit on each response. Canvas provides a word count in the lower-right corner of the answer box.
- You have one hour. Canvas will show a count-down timer.
- When you are done, be sure you SUBMIT your quiz!
Additional Information Provided on Canvas
- Timed Test: This test has a time limit of 1 hour.
- Timer Setting: You will be notified when time expires.
Science Meets Practice Paper - 15% | Science Meets Practice Presentation - 10%
Instructions
The Science Meets Practice assignment is a team paper in which you apply the course concepts to "OB problems" reported in the news. Examples might be:
- How does an organization successfully implement a new performance management system such as "Pay for Performance?"
- How does an organization successfully accommodate the "Changing Landscape of Healthcare Benefits?"
- What can you do about decreasing morale resulting from the "Loss of a Leader?"
These are all topics that are current and have recent news coverage. The objective for the assignment is for your team to identify a news story that is relevant in the OB space- Discuss, Analyze and apply Topics from our class work to present to the class. This will support our goal of extending the "classroom" for practical application.
This assignment will be due in two increments. The first is an online presentation of the scenario and analysis of the facts. The presentation should be no more than 10 PPT or Prezi slides long. You can find resources and helpful information for recording here.
The deliverable for the second part of the assignment will be based on the submission of a copy of the presentation at the time of submission AND the successful facilitation of the course discussion.
The deliverable for the second part of the assignment is a formal paper outlining the specifics of the scenario. The scenario, supporting facts, and analysis should be approximately 2500 words in length and should include at least 3 outside references in addition to the textbook. The Final Paper will be submitted via Canvas to the professor in Week 8. However, the papers can be submitted earlier.
All Students should present in writing to the Professor no later than Week 2 a short description of the topic.
*Note* Students should NOT begin work on their presentation and/or paper until their topic has been approved by the instructor.
Deliverables:
Week 1 - Nothing due!
Week 2 - Topic Selection due
Week 4 - Group 1 Presentation posted in discussion forum, facilitation of classmate responses
Week 5 - Group 2-3 Presentation posted in discussion forum, facilitation of classmate responses
Week 6 - Group 4-5 Presentation posted in discussion forum, facilitation of classmate responses
Week 7 - Group 6-7 Presentation posted in discussion forum, facilitation of classmate responses
Week 8 - Group Final Paper due
Final Exam – 15%
General Instructions
Every response should reference specific material from GBUS 653, rather than being based simply on your opinions or experiences. In general, more concepts (correctly used) are better than fewer. You do not have to provide citations or references of course materials, but you may want to do so to make sure I know you are using course materials. If you do so, use the format (Authors, date) or (Professor, lecture topic or date) as appropriate. If you draw your responses from non-course materials, provide the appropriate citation and reference. There will be automatic point deductions for failure to identify concepts by name. References are required.
Be certain that your response is directly related to the question asked rather than the question you think I should have asked or hoped I would ask. Be as concise and direct as possible while covering all parts of the question. Define terms as needed to ensure that your argument is unambiguous. Use bullet points if you feel that they effectively communicate your depth of understanding or aid in making for a compelling answer. Adhere to the word limit for each item. Citations and references will not count against the word count.
Operational Instructions
- Enter your answers in the boxes provided after the questions.
- All students must answer Question 1, which is worth 50 points. Then answer the remaining 5 non-case questions, which are worth 10 points each.
- The word limit for each response will be given at the end of the question. Canvas provides a word count in the lower-right corner of the answer box.
- You have three hours. Canvas will show a count-down timer.
- When you are done, be sure you submit your exam!
Additional Information Provided on Canvas
- Timed Test: This test has a time limit of 3 hours.
- Timer Setting: You will be notified when time expires.
Weekly Discussion Board Participation – 30%
Instructions
Your challenge is to immerse yourself in the topics and perspectives presented in the course. You will want to be able to comment on the discussion topics with authority. You are encouraged to make notes on your own thoughts about the various concepts and issues, and consider possible issues/outcomes. Your posts should be to the point and include sufficient technical detail for others to respond. You should present your opinions, but justify them with facts and proper sources. What did you disagree with and why, or not understand?
Initial/Original Post
Please post what you view as the appropriate responses to the above prompts. Your initial post should be 250-300 words. Please provide response with a clear, well-formulated thesis; sentence structure, grammar, punctuation, and spelling count. Support all posts with appropriate rationale and citations from readings; document sources using APA format.
Responding to Others
Responses to at least two classmates' postings should be approximately 200 words and should be thoughtful, substantial, polite and more extensive than a simple "well done" phrase or "I agree." Consider points of agreement, disagreement, assumptions, and value judgments. You will be able to respond to others after you submit your initial post.
Instructions
Each student will make at least one original post by Wednesday 11:59 PM, ET, and react to at least two of your peers' posts by Sunday 11:59 PM, ET.
Simulation Assignment- 15%
Instructions
The assignment is based on the HBR Leadership Simulation. Please complete the simulation and then write a short reaction paper about the experience. Consider the questions: 1. What surprised you most about your reaction? 2. What information were you lacking? 3. In hindsight, what would you do differently? 4. How did the simulation get you to think of leadership and ethics differently? 5. What did you learn from the experience that you can apply to your life right now?
The simulation assignment paper is unique and should be considered an independent assignment. However, real world examples from your personal experience should be used in each analysis and can be carried forward from one topic area to the next. At least 5 Course Concepts should be discussed in the paper. There should be at least 3 outside references included. The paper should be approximately1500 words in length. More discussion will be provided during the first class. Please submit questions directly to Dr. Grady at any time during the semester.
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