The University of Texas at Dallas

Global Leadership Executive MBA Program

OB 6301: Organizational Behavior

Spring 2007: January 8 – March 25, 2007

Professor Contact Information

Anne M. Ferrante Phone: (972) 883-6467
Fax: (972) 883.6164
E-Mail: Use Blackboard e-mail

James K. Harvey Phone: (972) 867-8448

E-Mail: Use Blackboard e-mail

Course Description

This course addresses the human behavior and organizational concepts that
affect personal and organizational leadership.

Student Learning Objectives/Outcomes

• To learn about individual processes and behavior such as personality,
ethics, motivation, learning, performance management, communication,
and group dynamics
• To learn managerial and leadership issues of decision making and power,
and the organizational issues of teamwork, culture, and change
management.
• To develop critical thinking and analysis skills to critique business
situations from an organizational behavior point of view.

Articles: Listed by Week Due

Cases: Listed by Week Due

Schedule of Assignments
______________________________________________________________

Week 1: Organizations in Society

Dates: January 8 – January 14

Lecture: Values Based Management
Retreat Session: Corporate Social Responsibility and Ethics in Organizations
Team Assignment: Case vignette presentations

Course Syllabus Page 1

Week 2: Values, Personality and Motivation

Dates: January 15 – January 21

Lectures: Organization in Society

Values and Personality
Motivation

Readings: Hallowell, E., “The Human Moment at Work,” Harvard

Business Review, January, 1999.

Herzberg, F., “One More Time: How Do You Motivate

Employees?, Harvard Business Review, January, 2003.

Livingston, S., “Pygmalion in Management, Harvard

Business Review, January, January, 2003.

Motivation: The Not So Secret Ingredient of High

Performance. Harvard Business School, 2006.

Discussion Individual Responses to two of the following questions

Forum posted to Discussion Forum by January 21

• Hertzberg states there are three general philosophies of

people management. What philosophy—and why—is the
most prevalent in today’s organizations?

• How does Livingston’s “Manager as Pygmalion” concept

support or detract from Hertzberg’s theory of motivation

• Hallowell states that technology is here to stay yet he

warns of the disappearing human moment at work. How
critical are human moments to a high performance
workplace?

Plan Ahead: Team case analysis and webconference presentation

_______________________________________________________________

Week 3: Management and Leadership

Dates: January 22 – January 28

Readings:
Buckingham, M., “What Great Managers Do”, Harvard
Business Review, March 2005

Course Syllabus Page 2

 Goffee, R. and Jones, G., Why Should Anyone Be Led by
You?, Harvard Business Review, Sept.-Oct., 2000.

Goleman, D., “What Makes a Leader”, Harvard

Business Review, January, 2004

Zaleznik, A, “Managers and Leaders: Are They Different?”

Harvard Business Review, March – April, 1992

Assignment: Team Case Question Write Up and Webconference

Presentation
Instructions posted under Course Materials

Case: Rob Parson at Morgan Stanley (A)

Due Date: Write up and presentation posted to the Digital Drop Box no
later than 9:00 pm, Friday, January 26, 2007

Webconference: Saturday, January 27, 2007

Teams 1 – 4 9:00 am
Teams 5 – 8 11:00 am

Peer Evaluation: Submitted Saturday, January 27th

________________________________________________________________

Week 4: Workforce Demographics

Dates: January 29 – February 4

Readings: Conger, J., “How Gen X Managers Manage”, Strategy and

Business, First Quarter, Issue 10, 1998

Dychtwald, K., Erickson, T., Morrison B., “It’s Time to Retire

Retirement”, January, 2006.

Stauffer, D., “Motivation across Generations”, Harvard

Management Update, March, 2003

Raelin, J., “Finding Meaning in the Organization”, MIT Sloan

Management Review, Spring, 2006

“Employer Attitudes Towards Older Workers”, Center for

Retirement Research, Boston College, July, 2006.

Discussion Forum: Individual Responses to the following questions

Course Syllabus Page 3

 posted to Discussion Forum by February 4

• How does generational differences and workforce diversity create

opportunities and challenges within organizations? What actions
should companies take to address the challenge of changing
demographics?

• What criteria would a manager use to determine if he/she needed to

adjust his/her style in order to deal with direct reports who were from
different generations?

Plan Ahead: Team case analysis and webconference presentation

_______________________________________________________________

Week 5: Teamwork and Collaboration

Dates: February 5 – February 11

Readings: Katzenbach, J. and Smith, D., “The Discipline of Teams”

Harvard Business Review, July, 2005

Polzer, J., “Leading Teams”, Harvard Business Review,

February, 2003

Majchrzak, A , Malhotra, A , Stamps, J. and Lipnack, J. ,

Can Absence Make the Team Grow Stronger, Harvard
Business Review, May, 2004.

Manville, B., Agres, C., “What Makes a Virtual

Organization Work?, Harvard Business Review, October,
2000.

Assignment: Team Case Question Write Up and Webconference

Presentation

Case: The Leo Burnett Company

Assignment instructions posted under Course Materials

Due Date: Write up and presentation posted to the Digital Drop Box no
later than 9:00 pm, Friday, February 9, 2007

Webconference: Saturday, February 10th, 2007

Teams 5 -8 9:00 am
Teams 1 – 4 11:00 am
Peer Evaluation: Submitted February 10th, 2007

Course Syllabus Page 4

Weeks 6 and 7: Power and Influence

Dates: February 12 – February 25

Readings: Cone, J., “How to Change a Mind: Yours and Others”,

Interaction Associates White Paper, March, 2005

Conger, J., “The Necessary Art of Persuasion”, Harvard

Business Review, May-June, 1998

Hill, Linda, “Power and Dynamics in Organizations”,

Harvard Business Review, March, 1995.

McClelland, D and Bernham, D, “Power is the Great

Motivator”, Harvard Business Review, January, 2003.

Assignment: Individual Case Analysis Write Up

Instructions posted under Course Materials

Case: Cory Robinson at Sprint

Due Date: Posted to the Digital Drop Box by February 25

Weeks 8 - 10: Organizational Culture and Change Management

Dates: February 26 – March 25

Readings: Beer, M and Nohria, N., “Cracking the Code of Change”,

Harvard Business Review, May – June, 2000

Beer, M, Eisenstat, R., and Spector, B., “Why Change

Programs Do Not Produce Change”, Harvard Business
Review, Nov. – Dec. 1990

Charan, R., “Conquering a Culture of Indecision”,

Harvard Business Review, January, 2006

Greiner, L., “Evolution and Revolution as Organizations

Grow”, Harvard Business Review, May, 1998.

Neilsen, G, Paternack, B and Van Nuys, K., Passive

Aggressive Organization, Harvard Business Review,
October, 2005. RO510E

Course Syllabus Page 5

 Roberto, M. and Levesque, L., “The Art of Making Change
Initiatives Stick”, MIT Sloan Management Review, Summer,
2005.

Assignment: Team Case Analysis and Write Up

Assignment instructions posted under Course Materials

Case: Artic Timber (A) and (B)

Due Date: Posted to the Digital Drop Box no later than March 25

Peer Evaluation: Due March 25

Course Evaluation: Due March 25

Grading Policy and Evaluation

Preparation and Participation at Retreat Session 10 %

Discussion Forums
Two at 10% each 20 %

Individual Case Analysis 20 %

Team Webconference Written Responses and Presentation 30 %

Two at 15% each

Final Team Case Analysis 20 %

Written Assignments
Evaluation of written assignments and project papers will be based on thoughtful,
analytical, well-constructed responses demonstrating knowledge of the topic by
citing examples of the key concepts present in the readings or cases.

• A ---Excellent: Understanding of all key issues; no important analytical

errors or omissions; concise, very well written and organized, makes
appropriate use of charts and tables.
• B---Good: Understanding of most issues; only a few important issues
not discussed; few analytical errors; well-written and well-organized,
makes appropriate use of charts and tables.
• C---Adequate: Understanding of many issues, but not all important
aspects covered; various analytical errors; excessive case recitation
unsupported by analysis; poorly written or organized, makes
inappropriate use of charts and tables.

Course Syllabus Page 6

Webconference Team Discussions and Presentations
Evaluation of webconference presentations and discussions will be based on
demonstration of knowledge of the organizational behavior theories, concepts
and issues. Responses should be based on and reference the text, readings or
other sources of independent research. During the discussion each team is
expected to add value by questioning, exploring or challenging at least one other
team’s presentation.

A Excellent analysis and presentation --- Clear and concise answer to the
question and provides one or more key concepts or evidence from the text,
readings or other outside sources to support presentation. Immediately and
effectively responds to questions, provides specific answers and defends
points if challenged by other team members. Presentation slides are clear,
concise and well organized. During webconference, team members ask
questions or provide evidence that adds value to the other team’s
presentation or topic.

B Good analysis and presentation: Clearly answers the question and provides
at least one key concept or supporting evidence from the text or readings to
support presentation. Responds to questions with an answer that clarifies or
defends points made by others. Presentations slides address key information
and are generally organized to support the presentation. Team members ask
questions or provide evidence that adds some value to the other team’s
presentation or topic.

C Adequate: Answers the question, but provides no key concepts or evidence

from the text, readings or other outside sources to support presentation.
Presentation slides do not wholly support the presentation. Team members
respond to questions generally and provide adequate answers, which may or
may not add clarity or defend points made by others. Members do not ask
questions or provide evidence that adds value to the other team’s
presentation or topic.

Discussion Forum Participation

Students are expected to post responses that reflect content knowledge,
analytical skills and add value to the discussion topic. Grades for discussions
forum participation will be based on the quality of the response.
• A: Excellent contribution --- Insightful; key points and ideas set tone of
other contributions.
• B: Good contributions --- Used key points and issues to add value to
the overall discussion thread.
• C: Acceptable contribution --- Contribution was on topic; built on
other’s ideas.
• D: Unacceptable contribution --- Contribution did not add value.

Course Syllabus Page 7

 • F: No posting

Course & Instructor Policies

Format for Written Assignments

Written assignments should be Word documents (no html formats) that are:
• Double-spaced, 12 pt. Arial or Times New Roman font
• Citations properly formatted in MLA style
• Clearly identified by author or team
o For an individual assignment, the student name needs to be on the
first page of the document AND as part of the document name, i.e.
Jonessocres.doc when it is submitted.
o For a team assignment, the team number and names of team
participants on the first page AND the team number as part of the
document name i.e. Team2MNCs.doc when it is posted
o There is no need for a separate cover pages

Submission
Assignments should be posted on Blackboard (Bb) within the course area by the
due date. Assignments are submitted to the Digital Drop Box under Tools tab.
Be sure to use the SEND command to submit to the Drop Box. Do not use ADD
command to post.

Late Assignments
If you need to miss an assignment deadline, you must pre-notify the instructor
and course manager before the deadline. You should provide the reason for
missing the deadline and an alternative date for submitting the assignment. The
instructor and course manager must approve the extension and the new
deadline. If you do not pre-notify the instructor, the instructor may determine the
appropriate grade deduction for the assignment.

Retreats: Attendance at the retreat is a course requirement. Missing the retreat

is grade affecting.

Evaluations:

Peer Evaluation
Students need to complete a peer evaluation for each team assignment. The
peer evaluation is an electronic document whose link is located on Blackboard
(Bb) in the course area under the Information button. Students allocate 100
points among the team members to reflect the level of contribution made by each
team member on a specific assignment.

Course Syllabus Page 8

Course Evaluation
The completion of a course evaluation is a course requirement. Students need
to complete a course evaluation form which is an electronic document whose link
is located on Blackboard (Bb) in the course area under the Information button.
Students who do not submit a course evaluation by the due date will receive an
incomplete grade for the course.

Course Syllabus Page 9