Organizational Behavior 1: Course Outline

Zubin Mulla

Email: zubin.mulla@gmail.com

Course materials

1. Stephen P. Robbins, Organizational Behavior, 10^th edition (2004), Prentice-Hall of India.
2. Reading material provided by the institute

Introduction

The objectives of this course are...

1. To understand the drivers of individual behavior in organizations like values, attitudes, personality, perceptions, motivation & emotions.

2. To investigate linkages between the drivers of individual behavior & organizational outcomes.

3. To know more about your own values, attitudes, personality, decision making styles, motivation & emotions.

4. Recognize that individuals are unique in terms of their values, personalities, perception etc, and hence understand that the basis for understanding or influencing their behavior will have to be different.

Grading

Grade Component	Weightage
Class attendance & participation	15
Examination 1, 2, 3	70
Personal Learning Journal	15

Grades will be awarded based on a bell curve / forced ranking system as per the institute’s guidelines.

Class Attendance & Participation

Attendance will be taken randomly during 10 of the classes & the results extrapolated for the entire course.

For each class you will be expected to read & prepare the prescribed reading material (Basic Readings). Your class preparedness will be judged based on questions asked by the instructor & your own inputs during the class discussion.

To help the instructor in grading your class participation (and ensuring that you don’t miss out on your hard earned marks!) all those who have responded to the instructor’s questions or who have voluntarily contributed to the class learning must send an email to the instructor describing at the end of every lecture briefly describing your comment made in class. Your class participation will be judged based on…

1. Depth of understanding of the reading material
2. Relevance of your comment & Contribution to the class learning
3. Ability to link diverse concepts across sessions

In class, the following are valued behaviors: initiating class discussion, participating in class discussions, & exercises, voicing original ideas, challenging the ideas of others, defending your own views, clarifying points for other people, sharing relevant personal experiences and opinion, raising questions that need to be further explored, demonstrating knowledge of reading assignments, demonstrating the ability to apply, analyze, and synthesize course material, displaying professional behavior, showing respect for the instructor, and listening to the input of others.

The following behaviors should be avoided: unprofessional or dishonest conduct, asking questions about material already covered that you didn’t hear because you were late, reiterating obvious points, making irrelevant remarks unrelated to the topic, distracting the class, failing to participate when solicited, and demonstrating a lack of preparedness that delays class activities. Students who display repeated unprofessional conduct will be asked to meet with the instructor to discuss their future in the course.

Examination 1, 2, 3

There will be three examinations during the duration of the trimester on the material covered through the readings & class discussions. Each examination will carry equal marks (70 marks). Each examination will have a cumulative syllabus i.e. examination 2 will include syllabus covered in examination 1 and examination 3 will include the syllabus covered in examinations 1 & 2. The average of all the three examinations will be used to determine the marks for this component.

Personal Learning Journal

The purpose of a journal is to allow you to reflect creatively and personally on the subject matter of the course. Your journal will consist of at least one entry per course period. Each entry must be typed using Times New Roman of Font Size 12 and each entry should be approximately 150-200 words. A journal is not class notes or reading notes. (You may, of course take such notes, but they are not a journal).

Rather: A journal is your reflection on the material covered. Think of the journal as a record of the insights or valuable lessons that you derive from the course that you do not want to forget.

Who is your intended reader?

1) Your instructor, for whom the journal should be an example of clear writing, carefully proof-read, and typed neatly. Each entry should show that you have read the material, understood the class presentations & discussions and spent time in reflection on them.

2) Your second intended reader is yourself, a few years down the line. You will, of course, forget much of the material you read, view, and memorize. Your journal will be a record of those thoughts, feelings, insights, discoveries, observations and ideas that at this point you would like to remind the future you of, in the days to come. Some day in the future, you will be going through your stuff, deciding what to keep and what to toss. You will come across your "PNP Journal" and start to browse. "Wow! Was I like that then?" you will ask. You were/are. Consider the journal a gift to your future self.

The Journal will be graded on:

1. Format, syntax, readability and grammar
2. Quality of reflection
3. Insight into the materials covered
4. Insights into any additional background material read
5. Usefulness to your future self.

The journal must be submitted by email, three times during the course of the trimester before 1700 hrs on the day of the examination. Each time the journal will be evaluated out of 15 marks and the average of the three scores will be used for the final grade. Delay in submitting the journal will result in the student losing the marks for that submission.

Honesty

Honest behavior is expected during the course. Following are some guidelines as to what is considered dishonest behavior in this course. Dishonest incidents will merit losing the entire marks for that component & may be referred to the Dean’s Office.

Given below are some examples of dishonest behaviors (this is not an exhaustive list)…

1) Using notes during the exam, discussing exam questions with other students, and copying from someone else's exam are dishonest.

2) Supplying the professor with an inaccurate excuse concerning absence or inability to do class work is considered dishonest.

3) Plagiarizing projects or parts of projects completed by other students, from a book or the internet without acknowledging the source of the information is considered dishonest.

4) Doing assignments as a group that should be done individually is dishonest.

Session Plan

Session No	Basic Readings
1	Introduction to Organizational Behavior Robbins (2004) Chapter 1: What is organizational behavior? pg. 2 – 35. Robbins (2004) Appendix A: The historical evolution of organizational behavior, pg. 594-605. Advanced Readings Kerlinger, F.N. 2000. Foundations of behavioral research, Surjeet Publications. Chapter 2: Problems and Hypothesis, pg. 16-27. “Testing Explanations of Economic Growth” from McClelland, D.C. 1961. The achieving society. D. Van Nostrand Company. pg 19-35. Kanter, R.M. 1989. The new managerial work, Harvard Business Review, Nov-Dec, pg. 85-92. Drucker, P.F. 2002. They’re not employees, they’re people, Harvard Business Review, Feb, pg. 70-77.
2	Introduction to Organizational Behavior Robbins (2004) Appendix B: Research in organizational behavior, pg. 606-613 Kerlinger, F.N. 2000. Foundations of behavioral research, Surjeet Publications, Chapter 1: Science & the scientific approach, pg. 2-15. O'Toole, J. (1999). Leadership A to Z: A guide for the appropriately ambitious. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, Training (Why it isn’t a useful part of leadership development) pg 276-279.
3	Foundations of Individual Behavior Robbins (2004) Chapter 2: Foundations of individual behavior, pg. 36-43. Nicholson, N. 1998. How hardwired is human behavior, Harvard Business Review, Jul-Aug, pg. 135-147.
4	Theories of Learning & Behavior Modification Robbins (2004) Chapter 2: Foundations of individual behavior, pg. 43-61. Luthans, F. & Stajkovik, A.D. 1999. Reinforce for performance: The need to go beyond pay & even rewards, Academy of Management Executive, Vol 13 (2) pg. 49-57. Scott, R.A.; Swan, J.E.; Wilson, M.E.; Robert, J.J. 1986. Organizational Behavior Modification: A general motivational tool for sales management, Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, Aug, pg. 61-70.
5	Beliefs, Values & Attitudes Robbins (2004) Chapter 3: Values, attitudes & job satisfaction, pg. 62-78. Advanced Readings Krishnan, V.R. 2001. Value systems of transformational leaders, Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 22/3 pg. 126-131. Sull, D.N. & Houlder, D. 2005. Do your commitments match your convictions? Harvard Business Review, Jan, pg 82-91. Rucci, A.J.; Kirn, SP.; Quinn, R.T. 1998.
6 Group Work	Rokeach Value Survey Identifying your Beliefs (Exercise)
7	Job Satisfaction Robbins (2004) Chapter 3: Values, attitudes & job satisfaction, pg. 78-91. The employee-customer-profit chain at Sears, Harvard Business Review, Jan-Feb, pg. 82-97.
8	Personality Robbins (2004) Chapter 4: Personality & Emotions, pg. 92-105 Coutu, D.L. 2002. How resilience works? Harvard Business Review, May, pg. 46-55. Cox, C.J. & Cooper, C.L. 1989. The making of the British CEO: Childhood, work experience, personality & management style, Academy of Management Executive, Vol 3(3), pg 241-245. Advanced Readings Maccoby, M. 2004. Narcissistic leaders: The incredible pros, the inevitable cons, Harvard Business Review, Jan, pg. 92-101.
9 Group Work	Robbins (2004) Skill-Building Modules pg. 614-635. Inventories from Robbins (2004) Student CD
10	Emotions in the workplace Robbins (2004) Chapter 4: Personality & Emotions, pg. 105-121. Ashkanasy, N.M. & Daus, C.S. 2002. Emotion in the workplace: The new challenge for managers, Academy of Management Executive, Vol 16(1) pg 76-86.
11	Emotional Intelligence Goleman, D. 2004. What makes a leader? Harvard Business Review, Jan, pg 82-91. Luthans, F. 2002. Positive Organizational Behavior: Developing & managing psychological strengths, Academy of Management Executive, Vol 16(1) pg 57-75.
12 Group Work	Mapping Emotional Intelligence & Emotional Quotient
13	Perception Robbins (2004) Chapter 5: Perception & Individual Decision Making, pg. 122-130. Livingston, J.S. 2003. Pygmalion in management, Harvard Business Review, Jan, pg. 97-106. Advanced Readings White, S.S. & Locke, E.A. 2000. Problems with the Pygmalion effect & some proposed solutions, Leadership Quarterly, 11(3), 389-415.
14 Group Work	Perceptions Workshop
15	Individual Decision Making Robbins (2004) Chapter 5: Perception & Individual Decision Making, pg. 131-153. Miller, C.C. & Ireland, R.D. 2005. Intuition in strategic decision making: Friend or foe in the fast-paced 21^st century, Academy of Management Executive, Vol 19(1) pg. 19-30. Advanced Readings Janney, J.J. & Dess, G.G. 2004. Can real options analysis improve decision making? Promises & pitfalls, Academy of Management Executive, Vol 19(4) pg. 60-75. Tsang, E.W.K. 2004. Superstition and decision making: Contradiction or complement? Academy of Management Executive, Vol 18(4) pg 92-104.
16	Basics of Motivation Robbins (2004) Chapter 6: Basic motivation concepts, pg. 154-187. Herzberg, F. 2003. One more time: How do you motivate your employees? Harvard Business Review, Jan, pg. 87-96. Advanced Readings Britt, T.W. 2003. Black hawk down at work, Harvard Business Review, Jan, pg 16-17. Morse, G. 2003. Why we misread motives, Harvard Business Review, Jan, pg 18 Nicholson, N. 2003. How to motivate your problem people? Harvard Business Review, Jan, pg 56-65.
17	Motivation - Applications Robbins (2004) Chapter 7: Motivation: from concepts to applications, pg. 188-217. Kerr, S. 2003. The best laid incentive plans, Harvard Business Review, Jan, pg. 27-37. Martin, R.L. 2003. Taking stock, Harvard Business Review, Jan, pg 19 Chan Kim, W. & Mauborgne, R. 2003. Fair process: Managing in the knowledge economy, Harvard Business Review, Jan, pg. 127-136.
24	Recap & Closure