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Organisational Behaviour

Organisational BehaviourNumber of ECTS credits: 3

Staff Member Responsible for the Module:Aston Business School

Prof Felix Brodbeck, Work & Organisational Psychology Group

Phone ++44 (0)121 204 3000 / ext. 3046/3257

Email: [email protected]

Prof Rob Martin, Work Organisation & Psychology Group

Phone ++44 (0)121 204 3000 / via ext. 3257


Ecole de Management de Lyon

Prof Tessa Melkonian, phone ++33 4 7833 7793


N. N.

Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet Muenchen

Prof David Seidl, phone ++49/89/21802988


N. N.

Pre-requisites for the Module:None

Module Objectives and Learning Outcomes:Organisations consist of the people who work within them. The objectives of this course are therefore

* to raise the student's awareness of the centrality of organisational behaviour to understanding

organisational functioning and effectiveness

* to show how an understanding of human behaviour via the disciplinary bases of psychology,sociology and anthropology profoundly deepen our analysis of organisations

* to demonstrate the core value of an understanding of organisational behaviour to a manager's

ability to achieve organisational goals

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At the end of the module students:

1. will have a deeper understanding of how the study of organisational behaviour can aid us in

improving the performance and well being of people at work

2. will have understood how models, theories and concepts about organisational behaviour can be

used to promote the effectiveness of individuals, groups and organisations

3. will have developed skills for the analysis of individual, group and organisational functioning

that enhances their effectiveness as managers

4. will have developed a richer and more complex representation of organisational behaviour,enabling them to contribute more effectively in the workplace

Module Content: (Robbins/Judge2007, Chapters)

Day 1

Session 1 Models of organisational behaviour and the nature of managerial work (1)

Session 2 Individual Level I: Personality, perception, emotions, attitudes (2, 3, 4, 5)

Day 2Session 3 Individual Level II: Motivation, job design, employee involvement (6, 7)

Session 4 Group Level I:Groups, teams, and leadership in organisations (9, 10)

Day 3

Session 5 Group Level II:Inter-group relations and diversity in organisations (12, 13)

Session 6 Organisational Level I: Power and conflict in organisations (14, 15)

Day 4

Session 7 Organisational Level II: Organisational culture and change (17, 19)

Session 8 Group presentations

International Dimensions:The aim of this course is to look at issues like cross-culturalism and globalisation and to put them into

a context in which human beings are operating. The course includes criticism of dominant Western

approaches and seeks to provide students with details about the applications of theory and alternative

approaches by looking at international case studies. The course includes important issues like cultural

differences, diversity and ethnicity and the impact this might have within a number of cultures.

International perspectives are provided through:

the readings that students are provided with examples used by the tutor in the class

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discussion between the students during the sessions drawing on their experiences andmaking comparisons

the cases and seminars that students are expected to prepare

Corporate Connections:

The course teams at Aston Business School, EM Lyon, and LMU Management School have extensive

corporate connections with national and international corporations. They draw on these connections to

inform the course material, offering insights from work at all levels of more than 1000 partner

companies. The lecture content is informed throughout by examples drawn from the corporate

connections of all contributing lecturers.

Method of Teaching:1 Week Seminar:4consecutive days, 1.5 hours per session (lecture), plus 3 hs for syndicate group work and individual

exercises per day. The course will include lectures, group work, case studies, critical reading, videos,

research activities, dialogue and debate.

Method of Assessment:

1. Coursework: Group assignment: group presentation about a training case study (30%)

- to be prepared during the week for day 4

Syndicate groups will engage in a collective case study, which serves as training for the assessed

take home case study (see below, assignment). After lectures and in between classes,

syndicate groups are expected to work on the training case study and prepare an in class

presentation (of strictly no more than 10 minutes!).

A guide for case study analysis is made available in the course pack and will be discussed in

class.

In addition to submitting a hard copy of your group presentation (no more than 15 power point

slides) to the PG office on day 4 of the week, groups present in class on day 4. Make sure you

can deliver the presentation in no more than 10 minutes. You may use the notes page in power

point to enhance the information you want to convey by commenting text of no more than half a

page. Both, the presentation material and the group presentation will be marked (together 20%

of overall mark). It is expected that all group members contribute about equally to preparing the

presentation. It suffices when one or two representatives of each group present their work in

class.

The group work will be marked using the following criteria: Identification of problems (~35%) -

what are the major issues, how are they related; Application of appropriate theory (~35%) -

application of lecture and textbook knowledge. Important: Depth rather than breadth; Generating

solutions and alternatives (~10%) - feasibility within context; Selection of a Course of Action,

Recommendations and Implementation (~20%) - degree of balanced discussion, quality of

reasoning, situational realism.

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2. Assignment: Take home case study 2200 words (70%)

- case and instructions handed out on day 4 of the seminar week

- to be handed in 2 weeks after seminar week.

A guide for case study analysis is made available in the course pack and will be discussed in class.

Word Count and Bibliography:

The word limits for the individual take-home case study is 2200 words. The word count must be

printed on the cover page. Bibliography, appendices, and cover page do not count towards the word

limit. Headings do count. If you use appendices, make sure you do not convey main messages in the

appendix. Exceeding the word limit by more than 10% leads to deduction of 10% of the mark

achieved.

Use Harvard Referencing (see course pack) or APA Style to reference the sources used(http://www.apastyle.org/). The following quick web based APA Style sheet for citation and

referencing suffices for your purposes: http://www.docstyles.com/apacrib.htm.

Learning Hours:Contact hours 18

Directed learning 8

Individual /group work 18

Self-reflection / documentation 16

Total 60

Essential Reading:Robbins, S.P. & Judge, T. A. (2007) Organizational Behavior, 12

thed. New York: Prentice Hall.

The resource pack includes the slides/PowerPoint to accompany each session; readings associated with

each session; case studies, case study guide, referencing guides, and a guide for using internet based

access to course material and discussion boards.

Students are required to read the relevant chapters from the course text for each session of the

course, any accompanying readings and the case studies prior to the 1 week seminar.

Recommended Further Reading:Kreitner, R., Kinicki, A. & Buelens, M. (2002). Organisational Behaviour(2

ndEuropean Edition).

London: McGraw Hill.

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