Office: 237 MBNA America Hall

Hours: M & W 2:00 – 3:00 p.m. and by appointment

E-mail: garlandh@udel.edu

Homepage: http://www.udel.edu/busa/faculty/garland/
 
 

 An organization is a system of interrelated parts with at least one common objective. All organizations of concern in this course include people among their parts. People serve two basic functions that help an organization achieve its objective(s): They do things (i.e., they carry out tasks); and they make decisions (i.e., they choose which things will get done and when).

 At any point in time an individual is capable of doing any one of an enormous number of things. Therefore, the choices (i.e., decisions) that individuals make in an organization are directly tied to what does and does not get done. Let me begin this course by posing the following hypothesis:

As one moves up the hierarchy in most organizations, the ratio of time spent deciding to time spent doing increases.

 If I am correct, then the principle thing that managers do is to make decisions that will get others to make decisions that will achieve an organization's objectives. In this regard, effective management requires "people skills". In fact, surveys of experienced managers invariably suggest that "people skills" are a rare and valued commodity in the business world.

Organizational Behavior (OB as it is commonly known) is the field that seeks knowledge of behavior in organizational settings by systematically studying individual, group, and organizational processes. In developing this knowledge, OB relies strongly on research in the tradition of the scientific method.

In this course, we will work together to heighten your awareness of human problems associated with getting things done in organizations and increase your skills (based on research and theory from OB) for resolving these problems in an effective manner. It is my hope that by doing this, we will make a noticeable contribution to your "people skills".

Because this is an honors course, it is my expectation that you will demonstrate a serious personal involvement with this class. Thus, regular attendance and class participation are extremely important and will be factored into each student's final grade. While regular attendance is necessary for a good class participation grade, it is not by any means sufficient. Throughout the semester, I will attempt to make a note of each student's significant contributions to class discussion. Sometimes, I will do this by making little marks on the attendance sheets that I bring to class.  At other times, I will make notes about student participation right after class.

In the Class schedule that is part of this syllabus, reading assignments and other written assignments are listed by each class date. These assignments are to be completed before attending the class for which they are assigned. Unless otherwise noted all reading assignments come from the required textbook. As noted in the Assignments section of this syllabus, some of the assignments are to be completed as an individual, while other assignments are to be completed as a team. If an assignment is designated as a team assignment, then all members of the team will receive the same grade on that assignment.  All required assignments should be carefully prepared using a word processor.  Clear writing and good grammar are essential for receiving high grades on these assignments.

 As you will learn later in this course, a team is defined as a group whose members have complementary skills and are committed to a common purpose or set of performance goals for which they hold themselves mutually accountable.  Over the past decade, there has been a noticeable shift toward the use of work teams in business organizations.  In fact, effective teamwork skills rank right up there with information technology and communication skills as the primary qualities that employers are seeking from college graduates.

On the first day of class, we will begin to assemble student teams that you will work with for the duration of the semester.  The common purpose for your team should be the enhancement of your learning experience in the course.  In attempting to achieve this purpose your team will work on specified group assignments, in-class exercises, and a final team project (see below).  In addition to specifically assigned work, other very useful functions for your team can involve the review of class materials and study sessions prior to exams.  Team members may meet with one another physically and/or virtually (via e-mail) to accomplish their team objectives.

Some time between our first class on September 1 and our second class on September 8, each team should get together to choose a team name and a team leader.  The role of the team leader will be to oversee all team activities and assignments.  This does not mean that team leaders do all of the work.  It does mean, however, that each team leader will be expected to exert extra effort in coordinating the activities of team members.  The return for this extra effort is twofold.  First, team leaders will receive valuable leadership experience.  Second, team leaders will receive a 10% increase on their class participation grade.  For example, if a team leader earns a class participation grade of 42 out of 50, this grade would be increased by 10% to 46.2.

Twice during the semester, I will ask team leaders to evaluate the performance of each member of their team.  The first evaluation will take place approximately one third of the way through the semester; the purpose of this evaluation is to provide each team member with early feedback about their performance on the team.  The second evaluation will take place at the end of the semester and will be used as the sole input into that member's team player grade.  Each team leader will develop her/his own method of evaluating team members that may or may not involve input from the team members themselves.   I will also ask each of the team members to evaluate the performance of their leader twice during the semester.  Again, the first evaluation will provide early feedback and the second evaluation will be combined with my own evaluation of the leader's performance to compute the team leader grade. My own evaluation of each team leader will be based on my subjective judgment about how well that leader's team has functioned. This evaluation will only amount to 20% of the team leader grade. As with leader evaluations of team members, each team will be responsible for developing its own leader evaluation procedure.

It may come about that in one or more teams that a particular member is not pulling his/her weight.  If this becomes a major problem, a team leader may fire a team member after consultation with all the other members of the team and with the class instructor.  Before any team member is dismissed, however, he/she must be given at least two written warnings.  Any team member who is fired will be required to do all assignments individually and an individual term project.  In addition, a fired team member will receive zero credit on their team player grade.  It is also possible for a team to replace the team leader following two written warnings and consultation with the class instructor.  Team leaders who are fired will join their team as members and a new team leader will be chosen.

Each team will be asked to develop a final project. This project should involve a fairly extensive examination of an organization or unit within an organization. The organization may be a business, a student organization, a social club, etc. In examining this organization, you should focus on one or more of the topics that we have covered in this course (e.g., motivation, leadership, etc.). One very successful project last year involved looking at motivation among workers in the University of Delaware's Grounds Services. Another of last year's team projects examined organizational culture and socialization at DuPont Pharmaceuticals.

Two outcomes are expected from your team project. First, the team will be expected to deliver a 20-minute presentation to the class, summarizing what was done and what was found. Second, the team will be required to submit a formal paper (10 - 15 pages) presenting a detailed description of the project, including methods of observation and data collection, as well as a careful analysis of findings, relating these findings to course concepts.  This paper should be prepared very carefully, with proper references and citations throughout. In total, the team project will count for 30% of your course grade, with 15% based on your presentation and 15% based on your formal paper. Because the team project is such an important part of your experience and your grade in this course, I advise each team to get started right away thinking about what organization or group you would like to study.

The deadline for submission of your formal paper is December 8, 1999.

There will be three non-cumulative examinations in the course. Exams will be of the essay variety. They will require that you have learned both the definition of core course concepts and how these concepts can be applied to various situations. All students are required to take two of these three examinations. Any student taking all three examinations will have his/her lowest exam grade dropped. Together, your grades on the two required examinations will count for 30% of your course grade. Because you are only required to take two of the examinations, make-up exams will only be given under exceptional circumstances (e.g., a documented severe illness). Make-up exams will not be given for personal travel, job-related responsibilities, or involvement in other activities.

Greenberg, J. (1999). Managing behavior in organizations, 2^nd ed., Upper Saddle Ridge, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.

If you are not already familiar with the University of Delaware's Policy on Academic Dishonesty, I urge you to get familiar with this policy which can be found in the Official Student Handbook, available on the Web at http://www.udel.edu/stuhb/.

In general, I will have office hours on Mondays and Wednesdays from 2:00 – 3:00 p.m. I will also be available to meet with students at other times by appointment. Other than face-to-face meetings, my preferred method of communication is e-mail. I generally read my e-mail every day when I am in town. If you send e-mail to me, you can expect a reply within one or two days. I may also send important announcements to class members using e-mail.  As a member of this class, you are responsible for checking your e-mail on a daily basis for messages from myself as well as from other members of the class.

Your final grade in this course will be composed of the following components:

 Component                             Points        Weighting

Two Examinations worth 75 points          150                    30%

Individual and Team Assignments            100                    20%

Team Project

Class Participation                                      50                    10%
 

Total                                                          500                  100%
 
 

Assignment 1: Team Formation and Leader Choice (10 points).

Get together with the members of your team and do the following:
1.  Choose a name for your team.
2.  Design a creative logo to go along with your team name.
3.  Choose a team leader.
4.  Once you have accomplished the above tasks, write up a single, detailed description of the process(es) that your team used to accomplish the above tasks.

Assignment 2: Team Essay on Social Perception (15 points).

Get together with the members of your team (either physically or virtually) to discuss the different ways in which our perception of other people (i.e., social perception) is similar to and different from our perception of inanimate objects in the environment. Prepare a team essay of  two to three pages on this topic.

Assignment 3: Individual Essay on Motivation to Play (10 points).

Respond in detail to the following question: What drives you to expend energy on play activities"? That is, assuming you have some kind of leisure, non-work oriented time, why do you do the play activities you do? Note that all activities require some effort. Even watching TV means deciding on programs and changing channels. Some activities like tennis or running require a great deal of effort. So why do you do them (at least two pages)?

Assignment 4: Team Discussion and Essay (10 points).

Get together as a team (either physically or virtually) to discuss each team member's concept of career success. Prepare an essay of at least two pages describing the results of your discussion (i.e., in what ways were the team members' concepts of career success similar to and different from one another)?

Assignment 5: Individual Essay: The Best and Worst Leaders I Have Ever Encountered (15 points).

Think back about your experiences in school, at work, or in other kinds of organizations. From these experiences, you should be able to identify someone that you consider an outstanding leader. That person might be a coach, a manager, an elected official, or an appointed official. Write a brief essay in which you identify both the strengths and weaknesses of that leader and then describe why you consider that individual to be among the best. Then do the same thing for an individual that you consider a terrible leader. Finally, I would like you to discuss how your personal observations relate to concepts that we have covered in this course.

Assignment 6: Team Assignment: The Layoff Case (20 points)

The Mid-Atlantic Furniture Manufacturing Company is a non-union, medium sized firm that produces custom made furniture of high quality. Because of global competition, firm sales and profits have declined over the past two years. Within the past year, the company has introduced a diversity program in order to be more socially responsible to the community. In point of fact, last year the company lost a rather large discrimination lawsuit filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The President of Mid-Atlantic has requested that the supervisors of the eight different departments in the company submit the name of one employee from each of their departments for a possible layoff in the near future. Below is a sketchy description of each of the eight employees whose names were submitted for this impending layoff:

Greg Greene: White male; age 22; high school graduate; single; 5 years with company; very good work record -–shows a lot of initiative.

Betty Blue: African American female; age 45; eighth grade education; 20 years with company; divorced – two children; satisfactory work record – very steady.

Jeff Gomez: Hispanic male; age 40; college graduate; 15 years with company; married – two children; good work record – has shown some interest in a supervisory position.

Richard Red: While male; age 25; high school graduate; 3 years with the company; married – no children; good worker but may have a drinking problem.

William White: White male; age 50; eighth grade education; 25 years with company; married – two children (wife disabled); performance appears to be slipping as of late.

James Johnson: African American male; age 38; 2 years college completed; 15 years with company; married – no children; average performance.

Fran Franklyn: African American female; age 25; high school grad; 5 years with company; married – no children; good work record – very intelligent.

Bill Yancy: White male; age 19; attending college part-time; 2 years with company; single; excellent work record – plans to quit company upon graduation from college.

For this assignment, I would like you to assume that the members of your team have been appointed to an ad hoc task force whose job it is to recommend to the President of Mid-Atlantic a rank ordering of the eight employees above for possible layoff. Assign a rank of "1" to the individual whom you recommend should be laid off first, down to a rank of "8" to the individual whom you recommend should be laid off last. In arriving at your ranks, please use the sketchy information that you have been provided in this case.

When you complete your rankings, carefully prepare a memorandum, signed by all members of your team, to the President (call him Howard Garland) indicating both your rankings and the rationale and procedures you used to arrive at these rankings. This memorandum should be relatively brief (not more than three pages) and perfectly prepared.

Assignment 7: Individual Essay on the Role of Information Technology in the Structure and Management of Organizations (20 points).

One kind of technology that is greatly underrepresented in the textbook that I have chosen for this course is information technology. The fact is that emerging information technologies have had and will continue to have a profound effect upon the way in which human beings live and interact with one another. In this assignment, I would like you to think about the impact that information technology has had and will continue to have upon individuals and organizations. Specifically, I would like you to write a short paper (four pages maximum) in which you discuss at least five different ways that information technology is likely to change the way we work in organizations over the next ten years.