JASMINE TATA, PH.D.

Associate Professor of Management, Loyola University Chicago

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SYLLABUS

This course uses an action-oriented approach to understanding organizations and studying the behavior of people in organizations. The main objectives of this course are:

(1) to provide you with an understanding of the various topics in the field of management and organizational behavior,

(2) to help you personally experience concepts through experiential exercises,

(3) to help you develop interpersonal skills by working in teams, and

(4) to help you evaluate and develop intra personal skills through self-observation and reflection.

The course is designed so that the concepts covered in the text are reviewed in class, and then applied in class activities and self-awareness exercises. Your ability to learn during this course will depend upon your understanding of the text, an open and active participation during class and your thoughtfulness in preparing for class. Please read the text before class.

TEXT

Robbins, Stephen P. Organizational Behavior. Concepts, Controversies, Applications (9th Edition). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Please bring your text to every class -- you will not be able to participate in class activities without it..

Your course grade will be based on the following criteria:

Team project

Examinations

Midterm

Final

Journal, self-evaluation, and term paper

Class participation and assignments

The University and the School of Business Administration have a firm policy against cheating and plagiarism. Cheating involves dishonesty in a test situation, and plagiarism involves dishonesty in the preparation of materials for presentations or term papers. Cheating and plagiarism will be subject to disciplinary penalties.

TEAM PROJECT

By the beginning of the third week of class, you will form teams of 4 to 7 people, and hand in a sheet of paper with names of team members and workshop topic (please make sure that you get your workshop topic approved). Each team will give one workshop presentation during the semester. During the workshop you will effectively train the participants (class members) in a set of skills. The purpose of the workshop is to practice and convey interpersonal skills, and encourage creativity in dealing with various topics in management (such as time management, stress management, non-verbal communication, motivation, job interview skills, performance appraisal, downsizing, tele-commuting, cross-cultural management, etc.). The workshops will not be very long -- two workshops per class period. If your team needs additional time, please let me know by the fourth week of class. All team members must participate in the workshop.

The workshop should not follow the format of each team member presenting a sub-topic, and should not consist of lecture with overheads.

Workshops will be graded based on the following criteria:

1. Connection to theory and concepts from text, lecture and outside research. (Does it demonstrate a thorough understanding of the topic? Does it demonstrate good research?)

2. Creativity of presentation and communication style (Is the content and format unique (role plays, activities, etc)?Is the presentation persuasive? Effective? Clear? )

3. Class interaction during presentation. (Does the class interact verbally or otherwise throughout the presentation?)

4. Overall integration of presentation. (Does it appear to be a team presentation, or a series of individual presentations?)

MIDTERM AND FINAL EXAMINATIONS

There will be one midterm and one final examination on the dates specified in the weekly schedule. The examinations will not be comprehensive. Examinations will consist of multiple-choice, true/false, short answers, and essay questions.

I expect you to be present for all examinations. Please remember that I do not give make-up examinations.

You are expected to keep a handwritten "business" journal (in a separate notebook), which should consist of observations made from recall at the end of each week. The purpose of the journal is to develop intra-personal skills through self-reflection. The journal should describe what you learnt about yourself and your behavior during the class activities, and how this learning connects to concepts from the text and lecture, and to your career goals. What observations you make are up to you, although you may use the questions provided to guide you. Some suggestions for journal entries are given below:

1. Objectively describe your scores on class exercises/homework, what the scores mean, and your behavior during class activities. (Concrete experiences)

2. Subjectively describe your thoughts and feelings at the end of class activities and team meetings, and your perceptions of team members. What happened during class to cause those feelings?

3. Look at the experience from different points of view, and use those perspectives to add more meaning to the experience. (Reflective observations)

4. Connect your behavior to concepts from the text and lecture (diagnosis and abstract conceptualization).

5. Identify how your learning will help you in the future (active experimentation)

In addition, your journal should include all the self-awareness activities completed in class and assigned as homework.

Your journal should be hand-written (approximately 1-2 pages per week), and will be collected once during the semester for feedback purposes. In addition, you should hand in your journal with the self-evaluation on the date specified in the schedule.

Confidentiality of your journal will be maintained.

Self-evaluation

At the end of the semester, you should reflect on your journal entries and identify what you learnt during the semester about your own behavior, connect your learning to class concepts, and present a specific and detailed plan of change for the future. This will be the self-evaluation portion of your journal.

Additional information on your term paper will be given in class.

You can contribute to class learning, and your own learning by an openness to new ideas and a willingness to share your thoughts and ideas with others in the class. Also, I expect you to participate completely in all class activities.

Please attend every class (and be on time), since you cannot participate unless you are present. In addition, you should read the assigned material and cases, and be prepared to actively participate in class exercises and team discussions. You will not be able to participate unless you bring your text to class.

You are expected to:

* Attend every class, since you cannot contribute to class learning unless you are present. Remember, your team will depend on you to attend class and contribute to team discussions.

* Read the assigned material and complete your home-work assignments. The text material will not be repeated verbatim during class.

* Be prepared to actively participate in class exercises and team discussions (very important).

* Respect the opinions of others in the class, and help your class-mates.

The instructor reserves the right to revise this syllabus, class schedule and course requirements when such revisions will benefit the achievement of course goals and objectives. Requirements may be amended during the semester which would vary the total points possible, their distribution, and/or the final grade points. Changes will be announced verbally in class.

WEEKLY SCHEDULE

Final examination