BA 632: Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management

                                                            Instructor: Dr. Rashmi Prasad

RH 216                                                           308G BEB,786-4157

Wednesdays 7-9:45                                         Office Hours:  TR 11-2

Afrp2@uaa.alaska.edu                                            or by appointment

In this course we explore the human dimension-psychological and social-in the management of organizations and the conduct of business enterprise.  We do not adopt the ‘tourist’ approach in our exploration, eschewing in favor of ‘participant-observation’—including self-diagnosis, behavioral modeling and skill practice.  We will attempt to make relevant the Big Ideas of Organizational Behavior to our working lives.

At a minimum, you should accomplish the following in this course:

(1) Diagnose and Benchmark your managerial skills

(2) Develop a concrete, personal roadmap to developing as a manager

(3) Deepen your understanding of the literature of organizational behavior

(4) Gain exposure to and an understanding of ‘best practices’ in the field of management

Texts:

(1) Developing Management Skills 6^th edition by Whetten and Cameron, 2005, Prentice-Hall

(2) Managing the Future  by Ancona, Kochan, Scully, Van Maanen, and Westney, 2005, Thomson.

Additional Readings:

Kerr, (1975), On the Folly of Rewarding A, While Hoping for B, Academy of Management Journal, 18, no. 4, 769-83.

            Tannen, (1995) The Power of Talk:  Who Gets Heard and Why, Harvard Business Review, 73: 5.

            Perlow, (1998) Boundary Control:  The Social Ordering of Work and Family Time in a High-Tech Corporation, Administrative Science Quarterly, 43: 328-357.

            Pfeffer, (1977) The Ambiguity of Leadership, Academy of Management Review, January, 104-112.

            Vaughan, Diane, “The Trickle-Down Effect: Policy Decisions, Risky Work, and the Challenger Tragedy,” 39/2 (Winter 1997): 80-102.

            Jackall, (1988), Moral Mazes:  The World of Corporate Managers (excerpts), Oxford University Press

The above ‘additional readings’ will be made available to students in class.

Course Format and Assignments: 

Class time will be divided (roughly equally) among the following three activities:

(1)  Instructor’s presentation/Class leadership

-The instructor will serve as a guide through the core subject matter.  The means to achieve the above will include lecture, demonstration, and discussion of cases among others.

(2) Student facilitation of case studies

-Groups will take turns presenting cases from both of the texts and leading class discussion of the cases.  In their presentations students are expected to go beyond the text narrative by performing additional research.  If the case is factual, students must present an epilogue and additional factors involved in the story.  If the case is apocryphal, then students must research the issues presented more deeply. 

Case discussion facilitation will be a group assignment.  Groups will be formed and assignments of cases will be made during the first week of class.  Assignment of cases to groups will be made during the first class.

Your group will have 25 minutes in which to complete the case facilitation exercise.  The criteria on which you performance will be rated are as follows:

1.     Effective grasp and summary of facts and concepts covered in the case.

2.     Successful involvement of the class through discussion questions and interactive exercises.

3.     Quality of additional research presented to the class.

4.     Presenting within the time constraint of 25 minutes

If a group member is not present with their group on the day of the presentation, they will receive no credit for the group’s effort, unless there are verifiable mitigating circumstances (e.g. medical reasons).

(3)  Skill practice and application

-We will perform many of the ‘experiencing organizational behavior’ exercises presented in the Griffin & Moorhead text in class.  Exercises will often (but not always) be performed in groups of four.  Responsibility for facilitation of an exercise will rotate from one student to another (and be assigned in advance).

(4) Personal Observation papers

You will write two ‘personal observation’ papers based on completing the skill assessments in chapters 1-9 of the Cameron & Whetten text.  The  two papers should include the following:

a.      Present the results of each of these assessments (from chapters 1-4  plus the PAMS on pages 23-26, for paper one; chapters 5-9 for paper 2)

b.     Write a two-page commentary on the most salient finding of the self-administered tests.  Included in your commentary should be a plan of action prompted by the discovery of this important fact (e.g. implementing a plan to improve your time management or communication skills).

Length estimate:  Skill assessment results 4-5 pages, commentary/plan of action 2 pages.

(5) Manager Observation Presentations:

Students will individually utilize the semi-structured interview instrument on pages 27-28 of the Cameron & Whetten text. Group effort will reside in a coordinated selection of manager subjects (each student must interview three subjects), and in the development of a combined presentation to the class of their collective research findings.  The presentation should be 15 minutes long.

Grading and Weighting:

Two Exams:                30% each

2 Papers          :           10% each

Manager Observation

Presentations:             10%

Case Presentations:    10%

Cases to be Presented:

Communist Prisoner Camp

Turn of the Tide

The Case of the Missing Time

Admiral Kimmel’s Failure                           

Sony Walkman (distr. In class)         

Innovation and Apple

Find Somebody Else

Rejected Plans

Larry Brilliant

Electro Logic

Aston-Blair, Inc.

Corporate Vision Statements

Lee Iacocca’s Transformation of Chrysler

Carly Fiorina

Minding the Store