Course Overview
Organizations are all around us, and management is an important field of study for all of us who engage in any form of organizational membership. Even if you don't plan to be a manager, understanding some key principles about how people behave in organizations can help make you not only a more effective co-worker, team member, and organizational citizen, but a better friend, roommate and student. This course focuses on how individuals relate in organization situations, and how group and how organizational structures affect individual behavior.
Many students initially find that some of the course concepts seem rather intuitive, or simply a matter of common sense. While this can be true to some extent (i.e., you will have experienced many of the concepts we discuss), we will be covering a number of specific theories and ideas that are based on systematic research, and are not always consistent with intuitive thinking. Thus, it is important for you to pay attention to these specific theories and research findings and integrate them with your experiences rather than relying solely on intuition.
This class will require you to apply your communication, teamwork, critical thinking, and information synthesis skills in many different ways. We will be taking an active learning approach in this class. Research has shown that active learning is more effective, and generally more interesting, than what I call the "lecture and regurgitate" formula. Successful active learning does require you to prepare for class every time. This means that you should do the readings, think about the issues, and be prepared to contribute to class discussions. As instructor of this course, my primary role is to facilitate the learning process. There will be some lecture nearly every class period, but we will also spend a great deal of time in class discussing ideas, participating in exercises, and practicing the skills necessary to perform well in this class and beyond.
I believe that students learn best when they are able to (1) understand new theoretical principles and then (2) apply those principles to situations with which they are familiar. Therefore, this class will operate on a “laboratory” model that has two components:
1) Through readings, lectures, and case discussions, we will explore principles of sound the management of organizational behavior. Then, using exercises, class discussions, and cases, we will apply these principles to real people in real organizations (including you).
2) The class itself is designed to exemplify principles of effective management of organizational behavior. We will periodically explore what we can learn about this process from the application of the course concepts in order to conduct the course itself.
The laboratory model requires your active participation in each class session. Because this class focuses on the application of learning, your responsibility in this course is not simply to memorize material. Rather, it is to be an active participant and observer in the ongoing learning processes inside and outside of the classroom.
Many students initially find that some of the course concepts seem rather intuitive, or simply a matter of common sense. While this can be true to some extent (i.e., you will have experienced many of the concepts we discuss), we will be covering a number of specific theories and ideas that are based on systematic research, and are not always consistent with intuitive thinking. Thus, it is important for you to pay attention to these specific theories and research findings and integrate them with your experiences rather than relying solely on intuition.
This class will require you to apply your communication, teamwork, critical thinking, and information synthesis skills in many different ways. We will be taking an active learning approach in this class. Research has shown that active learning is more effective, and generally more interesting, than what I call the "lecture and regurgitate" formula. Successful active learning does require you to prepare for class every time. This means that you should do the readings, think about the issues, and be prepared to contribute to class discussions. As instructor of this course, my primary role is to facilitate the learning process. There will be some lecture nearly every class period, but we will also spend a great deal of time in class discussing ideas, participating in exercises, and practicing the skills necessary to perform well in this class and beyond.
I believe that students learn best when they are able to (1) understand new theoretical principles and then (2) apply those principles to situations with which they are familiar. Therefore, this class will operate on a “laboratory” model that has two components:
1) Through readings, lectures, and case discussions, we will explore principles of sound the management of organizational behavior. Then, using exercises, class discussions, and cases, we will apply these principles to real people in real organizations (including you).
2) The class itself is designed to exemplify principles of effective management of organizational behavior. We will periodically explore what we can learn about this process from the application of the course concepts in order to conduct the course itself.
The laboratory model requires your active participation in each class session. Because this class focuses on the application of learning, your responsibility in this course is not simply to memorize material. Rather, it is to be an active participant and observer in the ongoing learning processes inside and outside of the classroom.