MGMT 313: Organizational Behavior Master Syllabus
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Course Website: Canvas
Course Description and Objectives
Organizational behavior (OB) is a field of study aimed at predicting, explaining, understanding, and changing human behavior in organizations. As such, this class is focused on enhancing your understanding of managing yourself and others at work. In this course, we will examine a number of important theories and concepts, including motivation, leadership, teams, justice, etc., and explore how these relate to problems and issues confronting managers today. Class sessions will consist of lectures, exercises, self-assessments, and other activities designed to help you learn relevant organizational behavior theories as well as develop vital leadership skills. This class fulfills all or in part the writing-intensive requirement for the management concentration. Accordingly, we will be doing a substantial writing project and will devote time in class to discuss how to successfully complete the assignment. The learning objectives for organizational behavior are:
- Describe organizational behavior concepts and their interrelationships.
- Use organizational theory to diagnose and solve specific real-world problems.
The learning objectives for the Writing Intensive are:
- Writing-to-Learn: students will use informal or formal writing in ways that deepen their awareness of the field of organizational behavior.
- Writing-to-Communicate: students will compose one or more written genres specific to organizational behavior in order to communicate key ideas tailored to specific audiences and purposes; genres may be academic, public, or professional.
- Writing-as-a-process: students will draft and revise written works based on feedback they receive from instructors and peers, using strategies appropriate to the genre, audience, and purpose.
On a typical week, Tuesdays will be used to discuss course content and have OB related exercises, activities, and cases. Thursdays will be used to wrap up OB content discussions as well as to workshop assignments for the class. As such, it is imperative that you bring your laptop to class every Thursday, unless instructed otherwise. You will use it to begin work on your assignments.
Required Materials
Textbook (available online and through the George Mason University Bookstore):
Kinicki, Angelo 2021. Organizational Behavior: A Practical, Problem Solving Approach. (3rd edition) New York: McGraw-Hill.
Other readings may be assigned throughout the semester and posted on Canvas.
Course Assignments and Grading
Whitepaper
To fulfill the writing intensive requirement in this class, you will be writing a whitepaper. This requires that you write a minimum of 3500 words over the course of the semester. The whitepaper will involve multiple phases including submitting a proposal, an annotated bibliography, an outline, a rough draft, written feedback on a peer’s paper, and a final draft. You will receive feedback from the instructor or the TA on each of these elements. In order to complete the whitepaper, you will need to use the textbook as well as at least 6 peer reviewed academic articles or scholarly books that you find, related to your chosen OB topics. With the final draft, you will also be asked to include a short self-assessment of what you learned through the process of writing the whitepaper. 1Details about the Whitepaper assignment, including the specific prompt, are available on Canvas.
Writing Guidelines. All writing assignments should be formatted as follows, unless otherwise specified: double-spaced, Times New Roman, 12-point font, and 1-inch margins. Use APA style to cite and reference all sources. Specific instructions for in-text citations and referencing are found in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th Edition or at: APA Style (7th Edition) - Purdue OWL® - Purdue University. George Mason University has a writing center that can help you improve your English writing skills.
1According to University guidelines, writing intensive courses require students to write at least 3500 words across 2 or more assignments in their Writing Intensive Course. Accordingly, if you do not complete the majority of the whitepaper assignments, you will not meet this requirement and cannot pass the class. Due to the redundancy of the assignments, completing the rough draft and the final paper alone are not sufficient to meet 3500 words.
Exams
Two in-class exams will be given (mid-semester and during finals). Both exams will cover the relevant book chapters as well as class lectures, discussions, exercises, and additional readings. In other words, everything we cover in class, including this syllabus, is fair game. Exams will consist of applied multiple-choice questions. Exams will not be cumulative: the second exam will only include what has been covered in the second half of the class. Make-up exams will only be allowed under extreme circumstances and with advanced notification.
Team Teach Presentation
You will do a 15-minute team presentation in front of the class on a particular class topic. The objective of this project is to teach the class something new about an organizational behavior topic. To complete this project, your group must decide on which topic they would like to learn more about, find two credible sources related to that topic and learn new content from them, use your new knowledge to analyze a company, and prepare a presentation to teach the class about your topic. You will need to look for sources that come from experts with credibility concerning business. These sources can be HBR articles, academic articles, academically oriented podcasts, TEDtalks, etc. Examples of helpful podcasts include: WorkLife with Adam Grant, LEAP! With Tina Seelig, HBR’s Women at Work, and TED Business with Modupe Akinola. For the company analysis portion of this assignment, you will need to find at least one article that describes the organization and the situation you want to analyze. This article should come from a reliable source (New York Times, Wall Street Journal, etc.). Level of creativity and ability to engage an audience will be rewarded. In addition to the presentation itself, your grade will be also determined by peer evaluation and meeting group deadlines throughout the semester. More details about this assignment are available on Canvas. Groups will be assigned by the fifth week of class.
Professionalism
Real jobs have built-in, inherent expectations about professionalism such as respect, timeliness, attendance and taking responsibility for your actions. In a work environment, you are expected not only to show up, but also to contribute to the discussions—whether it is with your boss, team, or peer-to-peer. Just as in a workplace, the overall professionalism score for this class is a holistic measure that includes your work ethic/attitude and involvement in the class. I will provide you with informal feedback on your professionalism score midway through the semester so that you know where you stand. Overall professionalism points will be awarded through the consideration of the following three components:
- Attendance. During the course of the semester, I will take attendance every day. Attendance is expected and missing class will result in a significant gap in your learning. If you need to miss a class, please notify me out of courtesy at least 2 hours before class begins. You do not need to provide a reason for your absence; you simply need to let me know that you will not be attending class. If you inform me of your absence beforehand, you can miss three class periods without impacting your professionalism grade. Consider these “sick days,” like at work. If you do not inform me of your absences or are absent more than three times in the semester, you will lose points for professionalism. Leaving in the middle of class without prior approval will be treated the same as an absence. Showing up late for class will also negatively and significantly affect your overall professionalism score.
- Participation in class. This class is highly experiential, meaning it only succeeds with your presence and active participation. Quality is more important than quantity. Quality participation includes comments that: (a) move the discussion forward, (b) encourage other class members to join the discussion, (c) relate relevant personal experiences or outside materials to the discussion, and (d) are thought-provoking and unexpected (as opposed to “safe” answers). I expect you to participate at a high level both within the larger class as well as within your group discussions. Further, failure to participate in your group project can also result in a reduced professionalism score.
- Respect for others. Respect for others encompasses a host of behaviors that suggest you are taking this class seriously. Examples of these include, but are not limited to: actively listening, paying attention when others are speaking, paying attention when the instructor is speaking, turning in assignments on time, behaving professionally towards others, keeping talking and texting to a minimum, not surfing the web or doing homework for other courses while in class, and so forth.
| Assignment | Point Value | Due Date |
|---|---|---|
| Whitepaper Proposal (minimum 200 words) Annotated bibliography (minimum 450 words) Outline (minimum 750 words) Rough Draft (minimum 1500 words) Peer Feedback (minimum 200 words) Final Draft (minimum 2000 words) |
250 (20) (30) (40) (40) (20) (100) |
Feb 6th Feb 20th March 27th April 10th April 17th May 1st |
| Exams (2 @ 100 points) | 200 | Feb 27th and May 13th |
| Team Teach (including peer evaluation) | 150 | April 22nd and 24th |
| Professionalism | 100 | Throughout semester |
| Total | 700 |
Final grades for the class will be assigned as follows:
| 644-700 = A | 574-608 = B | 504-545 = C | 434-475 = D |
| 630-643 = A- | 560-573 = B- | 490-503 = C- | 420-433 = D- |
| 609-629 = B+ | 546-559 = C+ | 476-489 = D+ | Below 420 = F |
NOTE: Final grades will be based strictly on your point total. No “rounding up” will occur. You will have extra credit opportunities during the semester, so please take advantage of those. No additional or make-up assignments will be given. If you are struggling to complete the requirements of the class, please notify me as soon as possible. Do not wait until the end of the course. I will not be able to make accommodations at that point.
All written assignments should adhere to the word count. Any deviations will result in a loss of points. All assignments are due into Canvas before the beginning of class on Thursdays. Assignments submitted after class starts but before 24 hours from the start of class, will be penalized 20%. Assignments will be penalized an additional 10% for each 24-hour period they are late. Do not include your NAME on assignments, only your STUDENT NUMBER. Your assignments will be run through anti-plagiarism software and any plagiarism identified will be penalized and reported according to school guidelines. Any use of artificial intelligence should be fully acknowledged and explained. Should you experience technical difficulties that interfere with the submission of an assignment, take a picture of your computer screen and notify me as soon as possible. Points may still be deducted if I am not contacted immediately. Please double check each submission to ensure that you have submitted the correct document.
Professor Responsibilities and Feedback Opportunities
In return for the professionalism that is expected of you, I have a number of responsibilities to you, including:
- Starting and ending class on time
- Being available during arranged meetings
- Creating a comfortable, open culture where you feel free to express your opinions/ideas
- Facilitating learning based in rigorous research as well as helping you apply new knowledge to the world outside the classroom
- Grading assignments objectively and fairly as well as returning them in a timely manner, with adequate explanation of the grade received
Opportunities for Providing Feedback:
I am very interested in receiving your feedback on how the course is going. There will be two formal opportunities for providing anonymous feedback. The first opportunity will occur approximately midway through the semester, where I will ask you to provide feedback on specific aspects of the course. Using your feedback, I will make every effort to modify the class to better meet your needs and address major concerns, although I cannot promise to implement every change that is suggested. The second opportunity will occur at the end of the semester, using the formal course and instructor evaluation process. Additionally, if at any time you wish to provide me with more informal feedback, please talk to me after class or send me an email.
Course Schedule
| Class Session | Topics | Readings Before class | Videos Before class | Due Dates | |
| Week 1 | Syllabus, Intro | ||||
| Ethics | Chapter 1 |
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| Week 2 |
Values and Attitudes Individual Differences and Emotions |
Chapter 2 Chapter 3 |
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| Whitepaper Proposal Workshop | |||||
| Week 3 | Social Perception and Managing Diversity | Chapter 4 |
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Whitepaper Proposal | |
| Motivation Exercise | |||||
| Week 4 | Foundations of Employee Motivation | Chapter 5 |
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| Annotated Bibliography Workshop | |||||
| Week 5 | Performance Management Groups and Teams |
Chapter 6 Chapter 8 |
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| Team Teach Meeting- Topic | Whitepaper Annotated Bibliography | ||||
| Week 6 | Review Session | ||||
| Exam 1 | |||||
| Week 7 | Communication in the Digital Age | Chapter 9 |
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| Outline Workshop | |||||
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Spring Break, no Classes |
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| Week 8 | Decision-Making and Creativity | Chapter 11 |
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| Team Teach Meeting- Sources | |||||
| Week 9 | Managing Conflict and Negotiations | Chapter 10 |
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| Power, Influence, and Politics | Chapter 12 |
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Outline Due | ||
| Week 10 | Leadership Effectiveness | Chapter 13 |
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| Team Teach Meeting/ Rough Draft Workshop | |||||
| Week 11 | Organizational Design, Effectiveness, and Innovation | Chapter 15 |
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| Peer Review Workshop | Rough Draft Due | ||||
| Week 12 | Organizational Culture, Socialization, and Mentoring | Chapter 14 |
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| Team Teach Rehearsal | Peer Review | ||||
| Week 13 | Team Teach Presentations | ||||
| Team Teach Presentations | |||||
| Week 14 | Managing Change and Stress | Chapter 16 |
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| Review Session | Final Paper | ||||
| Second Exam | Exam 2 | ||||
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