Organizational Behavior and Managerial Skills

MGT 513: ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR & MANAGERIAL SKILLS TUES. 8:45AM-11:35AM - BA227 PROF. PAUL MIESING SCHOOL OF BUSINESS FALL, 2008

Bulletin Description: “This course provides a basic understanding of individual, group, and organizational processes and their effectiveness. … The emphasis is on building diagnostic skills needed to understand organizational processes and the administrative and interpersonal skills needed to carry out key responsibilities in any type of management position. [These] will be demonstrated through the use of cases, role-plays, and simulations.” Prerequisite: Open only to MS Accounting students Office/Telephone: BA-315 / 442-4942 Office Hours Tuesday after class; by appointment E-Mail: The best way to reach me is at [email protected]. I usually respond quickly at any reasonable time, seven days a week.

TEXTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIALS ● Text: Bowditch, Buono, & Stewart, A Primer on Organizational Behavior (John Wiley & Sons, 2007, 7th Ed.) ISBN: 9780470086957 ● Supplementary Materials: Articles, cases, and Web sites are available at Electronic Reserves http://eres.ulib.albany.edu.libproxy.albany.edu/eres/coursepage.aspx?cid=1318 (with password OBMS)

COURSE PURPOSE

Organizational Behavior and Managerial Skills is designed to enable graduate business students to attain the programmatic learning goal of improving business-related behavioral skills in order to work with others, including leadership, organizational, interpersonal, team, and life-long learning skills. To achieve this goal, we will present the basic tools necessary to understand most aspects of managing people and processes in organizations. My intent is to provide you with a broad overview of the vast and varied literature concerned with the nature of management and organizations. The course focus is on theory, research, and application to assist managers in understanding human behavior as individual, inter-personal, and systemic processes and provide an opportunity for you to apply your learnings. My objective is to enable you to do the following at the conclusion of the course:  understand, critically analyze, and manage human behavior issues in various organization settings;  know how organizations operate so as to make them more effective and change them in desired ways;  define and explain key terms, concepts, and theories of Organizational Behavior; and  improve your managerial, interpersonal, and diagnostic skills

LEARNING ASSESSMENT

I intend to achieve these objectives and evaluate your performance through discussing the text, readings, cases, videos, and current events; engaging in role plays, self-assessments, and experiential exercises; examinations; and a final group report. There is a maximum value of 100 points per student. Final letter grades will be based on a rel - ative curve of all points, awarded as follows: ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR AND MANAGERIAL SKILLS PAGE 2

Max. Value Class Participation and Contribution 20 Examinations (3 @ 20 points each) 60 Group Project (presentation and paper) 20 Total Possible Points 100

All of these activities will expose you to the major issues, problems, challenges, frustrations, and (hopefully) reali - ties in managing within an organization. I will assume that you have read and understood the material, and the classroom time will be an opportunity to discuss, experience, and apply these concepts. Therefore, attendance and class participation are essential. We will form groups to discuss the various self-assessments throughout the semester as well as prepare the final project. Everyone is expected to participate in all group and classroom activities. Hence, I will also subjectively assess your class participation and contribution.

TENTATIVE OUTLINE

Personally, I want to facilitate a class that is interesting, fun, and very influential in developing your managerial skills – even organization survival! Yet, I do not want to sacrifice rigor. My teaching philosophy is that since you have much to offer, I create a learning environment where you, the students, can learn in your own unique ways. The basic requirements are: Prepare for every session, Share your ideas and experiences actively, Compare your analysis with your classmates, and Apply by using your learnings.

OVERVIEW

AUG. 26 – TOPIC #1: INTRODUCTION TO “OBMS” ● Read: this syllabus (you are responsible for all the information it contains!); Ch. 1  Assignment: Form teams of approximately five members in each (the instructor retains the pre- rogative to switch members if necessary); Send an e-mail message to the instructor that briefly addresses the following in your own words: What is organization behavior? What do managers do?

LEVEL OF ANALYSIS I: INDIVIDUAL PROCESSES

SEP. 2 – TOPIC #2: PEOPLE, PERCEPTION, AND PERSONALITY ● Read: Ch. 2; Butler & Waldroop, “Understanding ‘People’ People,” HBR June 2004  HBR Case Analysis and Discussion: “What a Star – What a Jerk” HBR September 2001

SEP. 9 – TOPIC #3: MOTIVATION – CONCEPTS AND APPLICATIONS ● Read: Ch. 3; Nicholson, “How to Motivate Your Problem People,” HBR January 2003; Nohria, Groysberg, & Lee, “Employee Motivation: A Powerful New Model,” HBR July 2008  HBR Case Analysis and Discussion: “The Best-Laid Incentive Plans” HBR January 2003

SEP. 16 – TOPIC #4: INDIVIDUAL VALUES, BUSINESS ETHICS, AND CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY ● Read: Badaracco, “We Don’t Need Another Hero,” HBR September 2001; Gardner, “The Ethical Mind,” HBR March 2007; Khurana & Nohria, “It’s Time to Make Management a True Profession,” HBR October 2008; Teal, “The Human Side of Management,” HBR November-December 1996  Case Analysis and Discussion: “The CEO’s Private Investigation” HBR February 2008 ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR AND MANAGERIAL SKILLS PAGE 3

SEP. 23

Exam #1 – 9:00-10:00 am

● Teams meet to discuss final project – Pick a topic for approval!

LEVEL OF ANALYSIS II: INTER-PERSONAL PROCESSES

OCT. 7 – TOPIC #5: HIGH-PERFORMANCE WORK TEAMS, GROUPS DYNAMICS, AND CREATIVE DECISION MAKING ● Read: Chs. 5 & 6; Eisenhardt, Kahwajy, & Bourgeois, “How Management Teams Can Have A Good Fight,” HBR July-August 1997; Gratton & Erickson, “Eight Ways to Build Collaborative Teams,” HBR November 2007; Katzenbach & Smith, “The Discipline of Teams,” HBR July-August 2005  HBR Case Analysis and Discussion: “Should This Team Be Saved?” HBR July-August 2001

OCT. 14 – TOPIC #6: COMMUNICATIONS, CONFLICT, AND FEEDBACK ● Read: Ch. 4; Tannen, “The Power of Talk: Who Gets Heard and Why,” HBR September-October 1995; Williams & Miller, “Change the Way You Persuade,” HBR May 2002  HBR Case Analysis and Discussion: “Bob’s Meltdown” HBR January 2002

OCT. 21 – TOPIC #7: LEADERSHIP – EXERCISING INFLUENCE, POWER, AND EMPOWERMENT ● Read: Ch. 7; Eisenstat, Beer, Foote, Fredberg, & Norrgren, “The Uncompromising Leader,” HBR July 2008; Goleman, “What Makes a Leader?” HBR January 2004; Kotter, “What Leaders Really Do,” HBR December 2001  HBR Case Analysis and Discussion: “The Micromanager” HBR September 2004

OCT. 28

Exam #2 – 9:00-10:00 am

● Teams meet to discuss final project

LEVEL OF ANALYSIS III: SYSTEMIC PROCESSES

NOV. 4 – TOPIC #8: ORGANIZATION STRUCTURE AND CULTURE ● Read: Chs. 9 & 10; Leavitt, “Why Hierarchies Thrive,” HBR March 2003; Manville & Ober, “Beyond Empower- ment: Building a Company of Citizens,” HBR January 2003  HBR Case Analysis and Discussion: “The Cost Center that Paid its Way” HBR April 2002

NOV. 11 – TOPIC #9: ORGANIZATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS, LEARNING, AND CHANGE ● Read: Ch. 11; de Geus, “The Living Company,” HBR March-April 1997; Edmondson, “The Competitive Impera- tive of Learning,” HBR July 2008; Nonaka, “The Knowledge-Creating Company,” HBR July-August 2007; “The Vasa Syndrome”  HBR Case Analysis and Discussion: “Welcome Aboard (But Don’t Change a Thing)” HBR October 2002

NOV. 18 – TOPIC #10: CROSS-CULTURE VALUES AND MANAGEMENT ● Read: Ch. 8; Black & Gregersen, “The Right Way to Manage Expats,” HBR March-April 1999; Early & Mosakowski, “Cultural Intelligence,” HBR October 2004  Case Analysis and Discussion: “The Case of the Floundering Expatriate” HBR March 2005 ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR AND MANAGERIAL SKILLS PAGE 4

NOV. 25

Exam #3 – 9:00-10:00 am

● Teams meet to discuss final project DEC. 2 – GROUP PROJECT PRESENTATIONS DEC. 16 – GROUP PROJECT PAPERS DUE

EVALUATION

CLASS PARTICIPATION AND CONTRIBUTION “Eighty percent of success is showing up.”

 Woody Allen

Due to the complex nature of the materials, the real value from this course will occur in the classroom. The time spent in class will include discussion and group work related to the self-assessments, readings, cases, and lectures. Obviously, intelligent, active, and meaningful class participation is essential. It is necessary that each student be committed to the “4 Professional Ps” of student involvement for the course to be successful: preparation, pres- ence, promptness, and participation. I expect you to arrive on time ready to go and remaining engaged throughout the entire session, which can only occur if you have done the homework in advance, are attentive, and avoid being preoccupied with an electronic gadget (e.g., laptop, cell phone, iPod, etc.). Your classmates deserve your thoughtful opinions, analyses, and reasoning – you can contribute these (and in turn understand those of others) only if you are present in class and adequately prepared! Appropriate classroom etiquette is also part of your participation grade. This means all of us must be respectful of others, constructive in our comments, and open to alternative views. Your participation in group and class discussions will be subjectively assessed to determine your class performance. Examples of contribution to class discussion include answering a question, furthering a point brought up, taking a leadership role, offering personal examples, or supporting another class member. Comments should be directed toward the entire class. I will try to record class participation following each session. The following guideline will determine your overall class contribution: ● A students “make things happen” by always seizing the initiative (17-20 points) ● B students “know what happened” and frequently provide insight (13-16 points) ● C students “watch things happen” and occasionally participate (9-12 points) ● D students, while appearing observant, typically ask: “what happened?” (5-8 points) ● F students don’t care if anything happened (0-4 points) Be forewarned: Everyone starts at “ground zero” and has an equal opportunity to work up to the maximum points available. Final class participation will be ranked, with the average grade a 16 and very few 20s … and Fs are op- tions!

EXAMINATIONS “As long as learning is connected with earning, as long as certain jobs can only be reached through ex- ams, so long must we take this examination system seriously.”

 E.M. (Edward Morgan) Forster (1879–1970), British novelist, essayist; New York Times (November 24, 1963) review of Walter Pater, Appreciations, With an Essay on Style ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR AND MANAGERIAL SKILLS PAGE 5

There will be three (3) examinations, one for each Part (Level of Analysis). Each exam will cover only the material in the respective Part, consist of objective questions (i.e. true/false and multiple choice), be based on the text material, and must be taken on the assigned date and class time: no make-up will be offered unless there is a clear and urgent situation. Each exam will last one hour, and you may not leave the room during that time. Every exam will be curved on a 20-point scale. You will be provided with a coding sheet for your answers that require your name and 9-digit myUAlbany ID on the back of it – please bring it with you! The computer cannot provide a score for blank or partial names/IDs, poor or incomplete erasures, or random marks. We will review the answers in class.

GROUP RESEARCH PROJECT “Tell me and I’ll forget. Show me and I may remember. Involve me and I’ll understand.”

 Native American proverb (erroneously attributed as an anonymous Chinese proverb)

The Group Project ideally applies your class learnings about personality, motivation, ethics, teams, communications, leadership, structure, culture, and change to an actual example. Pick a topic for my approval by Sep. 24. Past topics include “A Look at Southwest Airlines,” “Charismatic Leadership: A Presidential Case Study,” “Ethical Prac- tices of the Accounting Industry,” “Leadership in Crisis,” “The Retention Strategies of KPMG,” and “Why they Fail: Merger and Acquisition Analysis.” This assignment must be typed using Times-Roman 12 pt font, single-spaced, 1- inch margins all around, and conforming to APA style and format for all sections (see http://www.apastyle.org/). Include a title page, executive summary, tables, figures, or references as necessary. Staple your work but do not in - clude a folder or plastic cover. Content and style are evaluated, including grammar, spelling, and punctuation. (See the text Appendices A-C for further guidance on conducting research.) Here are some specific questions your presentation and report should address: 1) Literature Review: Based on your independent research and experiences, does your team believe “best practices” exist in your topic? If so, please provide some ideal examples. If not, what are the barriers? Your paper should be based on a minimum of ten academic articles, all cited in the paper. 2) Practical Problem: After researching the articles, use principles covered in the textbook and class to present your position. Then select at least one focal company as a specific example(s) of how an organization obtains, develops, and/or applies this particular management practice. Based on your literature review and data analysis, where does this company stand using global best practices as a standard? 3) Recommendations: Explain the extent to which global best practices are or are not applicable to this example(s). What are some constraints or contexts that facilitate or inhibit applications (e.g., industry, lead - ership, history and legacy, ownership, etc.)? How can the company improve its performance in these three areas? 4) Generalizations: Based on your findings, what are some of the trends you see over the next five years? How will you prepare for them? What are your overall learnings and take-aways of this topic(s)? The evaluation objectives are Critical thinking, Creativity, Collaboration, and Communication. As this is a group project, team dynamics and relationships among members will be important. Your group is likely to contain diver- gent viewpoints, values, and insights. However, remember that good decisions (and thorough analysis of complex issues) are usually the synthesis of several ideas – and that is precisely the reason to form groups. Compromises may often be necessary to arrive at a solution acceptable to everyone. It is hoped you can learn from and help your teammates: Use each other to seek help; challenge ideas, assumptions, and arguments constructively; and learn how to accept advice on controversial, perhaps emotionally-charged, issues. Remember that working with others is the major programmatic learning goal of this course! Not everyone should make the actual presentation but everyone should be prepared to answer questions. Please limit your presentations to no more than a dozen overheads in total. Avoid repeating what was repeated in class; instead, try to tell the class something they don’t already know. To help keep groups on track, I will notify you of remaining time. Please submit a handout to the instructor prior to the presentation, and a hard copy of the final report two weeks later. ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR AND MANAGERIAL SKILLS PAGE 6

EXPERIENTIAL EXERCISES “Know thyself.”

 Delphi Oracle

This is the “Managerial Skills” application of this OBMS course. Your group will engage in an experiential exercise for the first part of every class, during which you will be expected to share your reflections and insights. Try to ap - ply the readings and cases and relate to your personal experiences. Also consider examples of how the exercise has come up at work and how you might have thought and behaved differently than you did in the past, or how you expect to act differently in the future. Since we might be dealing with some sensitive issues in our exercises, I expect everyone to agree to the following guidelines: ● Honor confidentiality (anything shared in this room stays within this group; if you discuss this experience with others at a later time, you must omit any identifying characteristic when discussing the other participants) ● Unconditionally respect yourself and others ● Speak only for yourself ● Actively listen; consider other people’s words as gifts ● No put-downs or hostile analysis; avoid interpreting other people’s experiences ● Give caring feedback ● Engage in dialogues, not debates (there are no winners or losers in these exercises) ● Everyone has the right to pass on a decision or opinion ● It is okay to express your emotions ● No “rescuing” others members ● Take responsibility for you own learning – ask for what you need!

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES ON PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT “This is your captain speaking. This class airplane will depart on time. The class doors are shut; please turn off all electronic devices. This is a no smoking flight. Please do not attempt to deplane while we are in flight (unless you must go to the rest room). We will do our best to arrive at our destination safely, togeth- er, and on time. Have a safe and enjoyable flight!” I apologize in advance to the majority of MBAs who are mature, thoughtful, and diligent. As a precaution to the others, I am compelled to make this statement. (The “Evening MBA Handbook” is available on ERES.) 1) The following University policies apply:

 attendance by all graduate students must be regular;

 the University reserves the right to exclude from a graduate program, course, or final examination students whose attendance is unsatisfactory to their instructors;

 permission to make up missed work is not automatic; and

 regulations concerning attendance in a particular course are at the discretion of the instructor. To avoid any misunderstandings, here are Miesing’s rules:

 attendance for the entire session at every class is mandatory (I round down partial attendance);

 should an emergency situation arise, students must notify me as soon as possible; and

 absences, early departures, or persistent tardiness will require handing in a make-up assignment. ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR AND MANAGERIAL SKILLS PAGE 7

2) Late arrivals and early departures are disrespectful to fellow classmates and disrupt the class. So is “side-talking” during class (you have no idea how your voice carries in a classroom). Please refrain from writing and passing notes or participating in other distractive behaviors. And do not pack up preparing to leave towards the end of the class until it is clear the session is over and we are through. In addition, please disable all electronic and mobile devices (e.g., laptops, cellular telephones, audible pagers, iPods) while in attendance. 3) According to University policy, you may not eat, drink, or smoke in classrooms. Smoking is not permit- ted in this building, and you may not bring food or drinks into this room. 4) Ethical behavior is an important part of the course not only as it relates to professional conduct but also for your personal development. Consequently, I expect you to conduct yourselves in an honest, dignified, and professional manner. Academic dishonesty of any sort will not be tolerated. This is clearly stated in University and School policy. You are responsible for knowing the policies and adher - ing to them. To avoid any misunderstandings, here are Miesing’s rules:

 an atmosphere of mutual respect is in order for the rights of others and the diversity of other cul- tures, nationalities, and beliefs;

 work submitted for other classes or other purposes may not be re-submitted (in part or whole) for credit in this class; and

 you will be held responsible for complete and active participation in group meetings or projects – academic and professional integrity means contributing your fair share. 5) Although collaboration is encouraged and even required for much of the course assignments, I expect you to uphold the highest standards of academic integrity. This means you will perform individually where specified in this syllabus. You must abide by University policy on academic dishonesty, including plagiarism, sabotage, falsification of material or information, bribery, as well as theft, damage, or misuse of University resources. Plagiarism and cheating indicate a lack of respect for ethical consider- ations and peer responsibilities. These practices will not be tolerated. Plagiarism, either intentional or “unintentional,” will result in a grade of zero for the assignment. Cheating will result in being dropped from the course with a letter grade of “F.” Violations can also result in University sanctions, including being expelled. 6) Your enrolment in this class acknowledges your accepting personal responsibility for fulfilling its requirements and attaining its objectives. You are responsible for knowing what others expect of you as well as what you must contribute to further our shared learnings.

 Have a pleasant semester! 