COURSE SYLLABUS – Fall 2005 BA 3361: 03 - Organizational Behavior

Professor Jane Salk

Mondays: 2-4:45
Room: 2.712
Office: SOM 4.408
Phone: 972-883-2847
email: jane.salk@utdallas.edu (do not use WebCT)
Office Hours: TBA
Instructional Asst:
Office:
Office Hours:

Course Information

Required Textbook
1. Whetten and Cameron. Developing Management Skills ( Sixth
Edition)
2. Form 882E or 882ES Scantrons: bring to class daily
3. Name placard
4. Passport sized photo to create your face card. To extent possible
find a recent photo with glasses, purple hair, beards, that should
enable me to pick you out in the class

You should bring the textbook, name placard and scantron to class each meeting day. I
request the photo for the first day

Course Communication:
This course is supplemented by WebCt. Please use WebCT email to contact us. Do not
use our external addresses. Updates to the course will be communicated to you via the
WebCt discussion board and calendar. To access the course online:
1. Go to http://webct.utdallas.edu
2. Log-in using UNIX ID and Password
3. Click on your course name and section number

Please contact WebCT support at 972-883-4878 or guru@utdallas.edu

If you would like to talk with us in person, please make an appointment to meet during
our office hours. I have a lot of students and often you will have to wait to see me if you
do not have an appointment. If you are unable to meet during designated office hours,
we can arrange an alternative time.

Purpose of the Course:

Intelligence and technical knowledge will only take you so far in your work and private
lives. My goal is to introduce you to behavior in organization (and of organizations) in a

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way that stresses you personal behavioral skill development. In other words, the course
should help you assess your strengths and weaknesses and will stress how you can
enhance and improve your management skills. To that end, the course stresses a mix of
assessment tests for each chapter to give you a personal point of departure for learning
and skill development, along with basic theory and cases and role plays to examine
examples of situations and skills that we are studying. THIS IS A HANDS ON
COURSE. I expect students to come to class prepared to learn and to participate!
.
(Obvious) Further Expectations:
Turn off all cell phones and beepers before you enter class. If you have an emergency
situation that requires your immediate notification, please contact me before class. Please
bring name cards (written with large print and a black marker to place in front of you.
And, of course, be respectful of me and other participants.

Attendance:
I strongly encourage you to exchange contact information with at least two other
classmates so that you are able to obtain lecture notes and other course information
should you miss a class. It is your responsibility to stay current with the class.

Student Assessment

Course Breakdown:

Individual Exams 30 %
Class participation (inc. pop quizzes) 15%
Personal Journal (10% credit for handing
Journal: 10% credit for handing in specific
Exercises, 10% for handing in at
Semester’s end) 20%
Group presentation to class 20%
Group case discussion leadership 15%
100%
Exams:
There will be two exams worth 30% of your grade, one midterm and one final. They will
not be cumulative. The exams are multiple choice and/or true-false and are based on
lecture and text materials. Many questions are applied and require you to analyze and
synthesize OB concepts. Please prepare early for the exams and come to class with any
questions or concerns you may have prior to the exam date. Do not feel uncomfortable
asking questions. Other students will also benefit from the discussion. I will also
provide an exam review the class day prior to the examination period. Important: It is
imperative that you come to class on time. Once a student has finished an exam and
left the classroom, the examination is closed. That is, you may not enter the
classroom once you have completed the exam. No make-up exams.

Class Participation:

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What students get out of the class depends upon a partnership between your classmates,
you and me. You are expected to come to class having done all of the readings and
assignments. I ask you to turn in a 4 by 6 note card with a picture of you and contact
information by the second class to facilitate this grading. Also, I will hand out sheets of
construction paper and I request you create a name card to bring to each class so I can
identify you. If the class is very large, I might make a seating chart and ask you to sit in
the same seats for at least the first half of the course. Grading class participation is,
inevitably, qualitative, relying upon my judgment. I do not tick off how often someone
speaks and, in fact, mindless mouthing off will result in lower participation grades. What
I record is the perceived quality of your contribution on a given day. Good comments
and questions are timely (reflect what we currently are doing) and advance learning for
the class. Keep in mind that part of the skill learning in the class is about managing the
perceptions others have of you. It is an important skill in the workplace and a critical
skill in this classroom. At my discretion, I might also initiate several pop quizzes that will
be factored into your participation grade. You can miss one without penalty, as I will
throw out your lowest score.

Personal Journal:
A skills-based OB course centers upon assisting you to assess your strengths and
weaknesses, developing a learning plan to redress these and regular reflection about how
you can apply the skills and concepts learned outside the classroom. Keeping a journal is
the best way to facilitate this. To ensure you get off to a timely start, I shall ask for some
specific assignments that constitute part of the journal to be handed in for credit.
Examples include the assessment of strengths and weaknesses based upon the PAMS
assessments (class 3) and a “story” describing what you see as your life and work ten
years from now, an example of conflict you were involved in, what appended and how it
might be managed more effectively is a similar situation is encountered again.

Group Assignments :
Learning to work effectively in groups is a critical work skill. On day one, you will be
asked to form groups (final membership to be handed into me by the third meeting. With
your group, you will have two assignments graded both by me and other class members.
The first is leading discussion of a particular case (I might add or subtract cases based
upon enrollments). The second assignment is to conduct a half-hour presentation on a
topic of your choice related to the topic on the day selected by your group. Further
information will be given in class and sign up is on a first-come first –serve basis. If any
group member expresses displeasure with group process and contributions of others, I
shall used a peer evaluation form . Each individual's contribution will be identified on the
peer evaluation form I will provide and that will be confidential (i.e., your group
members will not see your evaluation of their participation). All group members should
participate equally to obtain full credit for the assignment. For example, if the assignment
receives a grade of 8.5 out of 10 and your group gives you 100% participation rate, then
you will receive the total 8.5 points. If your group gives you less than 100%
participation, your grade will be adjusted accordingly. Evaluation of your peers should
help you maintain an appropriate level of participation from all of your group members.
Additionally, you may have different group members for each learning opportunity. That

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is, if you are unhappy with the contributions of your members on learning opportunity
one, change it. Consequently, if you are not contributing fully to the group project,
your members may "fire" you and you will have to find another group. Please
contact me first if you are having difficulty in your groups.

Course Evaluation:

Your final grade is calculated as follows (percent of total points):

97 and above A+
89.5 to 96.9 A
87 to 89.4 B+
79.5 to 86.99 B
77 to 79.4 C+
69.5 to 76.9 C
67 to 69.4 D+
59.5 to 66.9 D
Below 59.5 F

Cheating and Sexual Harassment:

Students are expected to be above reproach in all scholastic activities. Students who
engage in scholastic dishonesty are subject to disciplinary penalties, including the
possibility of failure in the course and dismissal from the university. At a minimum, I
will assign a score of “zero” to any project, assignment, quiz, or exam upon which
cheating occurs. You may also be asked to verify your identification during
examinations and class projects. Although I believe in the inherent honesty of people,
experience dictates that policies on cheating must be strictly enforced. I strongly
encourage you to let me know if you suspect that cheating is taking place. Scholastic
dishonesty harms the individual, the course, and the integrity of the university.
"Scholastic dishonesty includes but is not limited to cheating, plagiarism, collusion, the
submission for credit of any work or materials that are attributable in whole or in part to
another person, taking an examination for another person, any act designed to give unfair
advantage to a student or the attempt to commit such acts." Regents' Rules and
Regulations, Part One, Chapter VI, Section 3, Subsection 3.2, Subdivision 3.22. Students
are expected to treat one another with respect and dignity at all times. You may obtain a
copy of your rights and obligations regarding scholastic dishonesty for the office of the
Dean of Students located in the Student Union.

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 If you want to do well in this course:

• Come to class. Read and prepare the assignments. If you do not read the
material before class and/or do not attend class regularly you will have a very
difficult time making a satisfactory grade, since we not only cover the reading
material, but also cover supplemental material. If you must choose between
reading and attending class, my advice is scan the text briefly to familiarize
yourself with the topic and then come to class. Hopefully, you can catch up on
the reading at a later date.
• Complete the self-assessment exercises and make regular journal entries to keep
up to date..
• You should be able to recognize definitions, descriptions, and applications of the
key terms. The discussion questions at the end of the chapter provide good
examples of application questions.
• Take good notes. Pay particular attention to material presented in class that is not
covered in the book including the examples. Place a mark by them in your notes.
• If you need help with note taking or test taking skills, contact the Student
Counseling Center.
• Make outlines of your notes and readings.
• Listen. Pay attention to the questions other class members ask. Do not engage in
conversations with classmates unless we are doing a group exercise.
• Form study groups.
• As hard as it is not to, try not to cram! Start gathering your materials and study
early to yourself plenty of time to do a good job.
• This is very important. The scantron grading machine will count any
answer wrong if it perceives that two or more answers were given.
Therefore, completely erase answers you change. If you do not feel that you
have erased completely, print the letter corresponding to your answer to the
left of the question number on the scantron. I will evaluate these during the
grading process and recalculate grades accordingly. I will not change grades
due to this error once the scantrons are returned to you.
• Come to class with an open mind and willingness to learn.

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 Course Outline/Schedule

General Week of In Class Assignments

Topic

Introduction 8/22/05 Icebreaker 1) Take 3 copies of the

Forming groups
Lecture – orientation and
introduction to course
Assessing 8/29/05 1) Personal skills – An initial
your current look at your strengths and
skill levels weaknesses
2) Skim Chapter 9 on teams
and teamwork, pp. 447-472,
plus Appendix pp. 592-94 on
conducting meetings. Bring
any questions to class.
3) Group exercise
PAMS peer quiz available
in class, give them to 3
people you work with and/or
who do something with you
regularly (club, sports team,
housemate …). These need
to be returned to you
completed in time to score
and do assignment before the
class on 9/12.05.
1) To kick off your journals:
fill out and score your
PAMS test form in the text
pp. 23-27 and bring results to
class.
2) Register your group and
choose sessions for the group
assignments. (You can not
choose same day for both
case and presentation)

3) A face card with photo is

due
9/05/05 Labor Day – No Class
Individual 9/12/05 1)Discussion of Chapter 1: pp 1) Read Chapter 1, pp
Behavior 54-81 54-81
2) Read case:
2) Case Discussion/Exercise Communist prison
with Communist Prison Case, camp, pp82-83.*
pp. 82-83

Collect and Score the PAMS

3) Looking Glass exercise surveys handed out on day
one. Please prepare to hand
in a journal entry that: a)
gives a summary of the

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 scores for you PAMS plus
those filled out by others for
you; b) summarizes the
similarities and differences
between your self-
perceptions and those of
others; c) How do you
interpret these similarities
and differences? d) Give an
outline of the skills you hope
to work on and improve in
this course (maximum 4
pages). This will be handed
in.
Individual 9/19/05 Discussion of Chapter 2: 1) Read Chapter – pp 102-
Behavior Stress 136

Case Discussion 2) Take, score and bring

Exercise
Group Presentation: _______
summaries to class, the
Locus of Control and
Tolerance of Ambiguity
Scale, pp. 48-51. Prepare
short summary of your
scores and how you interpret
them.

Read and prepare answers to

Case Study pp. 137-139.*

Individual 9/26/05 Discussion More on Stress 1) Complete self-

Behavior (Emotional Intelligence) diagnostics pp. 96-
101 and bring
Case Discussion summary scores to
class
Group Presentation: 2) The Case of the
_________ Missing Time, pp
140-144.
Question and Answers exam 3) Your “My life in 10
review years” journal entry
is due today.

Review for Exam 1

10/03/05 Exam 1 Review exam answers
Creativity 10/10/05 Problem solving and creativity Read Chapter pp 160-191

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 Case Discussion Complete and score Skills
Assessment, “How Creative
Group Presentation_________ Are You?” pp: 155-157

Case: Admiral Kimmel’s

Failure at Peal Harbor, pp:
192-194.

In class collect hand out to

assist with “How are you
intelligent” assignment for
next class.
Individual 10/17/05 More on creativity in a group Read pages 584-590 on
and Inter- context conducting effective
personal meetings
Behavior Case: TBA (will likely use
film clip) How are you intelligent?
Journal Entry to hand in.
Group presentation ________
(or Class Exercise: Just do it)

10/24/05 Chapter 4—Coaching, Read Chapter pp: 212-236

Counseling and supportive
Communication Skills assessments:
“Communicating
Case discussion Supportively”, pp: 208-209.

Group Rejected Plans case, pp: 238-

Presentation:___________ 240

10/31/05 Chapter 6: Motivating Others Read Chapter, pp: 299-325

Skill Analysis: pp: 296-298

Case Discussion
Group Presentation ________
(both assessments).
Case: Shaheen Matombo role
play, pp: 336-338. If you last
name begins with A-L, read
ONLY the information for
Andre Tate. If M-Z, you read
ONLY the Shaheen
Matombo information.

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Team 11/07/05 Chapter 9 Read Chapter, pp: 447-489
Process Part
I Skill Analysis: Diagnosing
the need for team building”
Case: TBA pp: 445-46. Use a specific
organization you participate
Group Presentation ________ in. This could be a club,
family or a study group, if
you do not have a work
organization to use as base.
Be prepared to share your
analysis with the class.

Catch-up and 11/14/05 Review for Exam 2

Review Day

11/21/05 EXAM 2, LAST CLASS Review Exam Answers and

hand in journals.