OF UNIVERSITY TEXAS AT BROWNSVILLE TEXAS SOUTHMOST COLLEGE MANA 3365.60: Organizational Behavior Location: South 106 Fall Semester 2001 TTh: 1:40-2:55 P. M.
Instructor: Tony Daboub Email: [e-mail] Web site: http://ntmain.utb.edu/ajdaboub/
Office: South 261 Tel.: [phone]
Office Hours: Monday: 10:00-11:00 P.M., Tuesday: 2:55-5:55 P.M., Thursday: 10:00-11:00 P.M, and by appointment. Text: Greenberg, J. and Baron, R. A. 2000. Behavior in Organizations. Seventh Edition. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
Prerequisite: MANA 3361. Importance of the course: Almost every aspect of our lives is affected by organizations. We depend on organizations for our jobs, our health care, our entertainment, and our education. Our civilization depends on organizations. Charles Perrow has argued that "all important social processes either have their origin in formal organizations or are strongly mediated by them." Organizations are the dominant feature in our lives. They dominate politics, through political parties. They define social class by assigning rank and position within organizations. They dominate our economy through the technologies that produce goods and services. They even impact religion through mass marketing and fund raising. Both in peace and in war, we depend on organizations for our survival. If they function well, organizations are responsible for incredible accomplishments. If they do not, they produce inefficiency, red tape, and bureaucracy. Therefore, we expect business organizations to reduce costs and improve quality in order to be competitive with foreign firms. As citizens and taxpayers, we expect governmental institutions, schools, hospitals, churches, and art organizations to operate efficiently, in the interest of the public. Purpose of the Course: The purpose of the course is to describe and explain how individuals and groups behave in organizations. Knowing this can make us more effective as individuals, as members of a group, and as leaders in an organization. This information is especially useful to leaders and managers, because they have the greatest impact on designing and changing organizations. However, it is useful to everyone who is concerned with making organizations efficient and effective.
The earlier course, MANA 3361, gave a general view of the management process. It took both a micro (behavior) and a macro (over-all) view of the organization. The macro view will be treated in MANA 4362 (Organization Theory). MANA 3365 (Organizational Behavior) takes a micro view and is concerned with the behavior of individuals in organizations. Some of the topics covered are communication, motivation, leadership, power, conflict, and change. Course Grade: Four exams (20% each): Written Assignment: Class participation: Total: Exams: Students are expected to take the exams on the day assigned. Make-up exams will be available only in severe emergencies that have been documented. Written Assignment: Each student is asked to select an organization, at the beginning of the semester. Students may select the organization for which they are currently working. During the course of the semester, each student is expected to write an analysis of the company selected, along the organizational dimensions studied in this course. For example, as we review the chapter on leadership, each student is expected to write an analysis of the leadership style of the organization selected. One week before the final exam, each student is expected to submit an analysis of the organization as a whole, along the dimensions studied. This will be a composite of the analyses written during the course of the semester, plus an evaluation of how the pieces of the organization fit together, and how the fit, or lack of fit, contributes to the success or failure of the organization. This assignment should be submitted on hard copy. Students are also encouraged to submit their work in electronic form (as an attachment) to the instructor's e-mail address. Please write "MANA 3365 Paper" as the subject of your message. Should a student's paper be misplaced, the instructor can refer to the electronic version. For the electronic submission, please use Microsoft Word, or some other format that can be converted into Word. Class participation: Class discussion of the theoretical material and the case studies is an important part of the learning experience. Therefore, students are expected to participate in class discussion. Of course, in order to participate in class discussion, a student must read and analyze chapter the or case in advance. E-mail accounts: E-mail is the easiest way for students to communicate with the instructor and with each other. If you do not have an e-mail account, please get one. You can get a free e-mail account on the Internet at various sites, such as http://www.go.com, http://www.yahoo.com, and http://www.hotmail.com. Just click on the e-mail link and you will be guided through the account setup process. If you plan to use the computer labs on campus, you are required to have a campus e-mail account. The form for obtaining this account is available at the labs. 80% 10% 10% 100%
Contacting your Instructor: You are encouraged to communicate with me whenever you are having difficulties understanding the material, or experiencing a difficult situation that may affect your performance. Feel free to talk to me before or after class, stop by my office, or contact me via e-mail. Also, please be sure to visit my web site from time to time. There, you will find updated information on the course, including any changes to the calendar. To access this site, please go to the www.utb.edu site, then click on "Faculty and Staff," then on "Faculty and Staff Web Pages," and then on "Anthony Daboub." Visit to the Mead Lab and the Library: On October 25, the class will attend a session in the Mead Lab and the library, in which students learn how to use the library's electronic resources and the Internet for research. These resources are useful, not only for university assignments, but also for projects at work. Learning Assistance: Learning support is available at the Learning Assistance Center (LAC), in North 122, 544-8208. The LAC offers free learning resources and provides one-to-one and group tutoring in all subjects and levels of coursework. The LAC is open Monday-Thursday 8:00 a.m.-7:00 p.m. and Friday 8:00 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Statement on Disabilities: Students with a disability, including learning disabilities, who wish to request academic adjustments in this class should notify the Disability Services Office early in the semester so that the appropriate accommodations may be made. In accordance with federal law, a student requesting academic adjustments must provide documentation of his/her disability to the Disability Services counselor. For more information, call or visit the Counseling Center at Tandy 205 (956-544-8292). Policy on Ethics: The University has a firm policy against cheating and plagiarism. Cheating includes dishonesty in any testing situations. Plagiarism is presenting someone else's words or original ideas in papers or presentations as your own. Reference: http://pubs.utb.edu/hoop/.
Calendar Thursday, August 23. Introduction to the course. Tuesday, August 28. Th...