Organizational Behavior

Fall 2019

Course Instructor: Amer Iqbal Awan

Email: aiawan@iba.edu.pk

Office Main Campus: Tabba North Wing, Room # 209. Phone 111-422-422 Ext 3013

Counseling hours: Tue/Thu (9:00 to 11:30) Fri (12:00 to 4:30)

Objective:

This course is designed to provide students with analytical tools grounded in organizational
literature in order to allow students to analyze organizations. The course is divided into three
modules. These three modules investigate

• Individual behavior in organizations, including personality, decision-making, personal networks,

and ethics.

• Interpersonal behavior, including teamwork, conflict, negotiations, leadership, and power and
influence.

• Organizational factors affecting behavior, including reward systems, culture, and organizational
design.

Learning Outcomes:

After taking this course you will:

• Learn some of the most important organizational theories.

• Develop an appreciation for the complexity inherent in organizations
• Understand the drivers of individual and group behavior in an organizational context.
• Improve your critical analysis skills

1
Week Topic

Introduction
Introduction to the Course: What is Organizational Behavior? How is the course
1 structured?

Introduction to the Subject Area: Is Management an art or a science? Is there a point

to studying this area?

Assigned Readings:

Chapter 1: What is Organizational Behavior?

Module 1: Individuals
Diversity
2
Why diversity helps organizations?

Dark side of diversity – when diversity doesn’t have positive effects

Class Activity: Paint decision in Toy Manufacturing

Assigned Readings:

Chapter 2: Diversity in Organizations

Attitudes
3
What is the nature of attitudes?

Persuasion: How to change attitudes?

Assigned Readings:

Chapter 3: Attitudes & Job Satisfaction

Suggested Readings:

Weiss, H. M. (2002). Deconstructing job satisfaction. Separating evaluations, beliefs

and affective experiences. Human Resource Management Review.

2
 Petty, R. ., & Cacioppo, J. . (1986). The elaboration likelihood model of persuasion,
19, 1–24

Appel, M., & Richter, T. (2010). Transportation and Need for Affect in Narrative
Persuasion: A Mediated Moderation Model. Media Psychology, 13(2), 101–135
Emotions
4
Do they really even matter in organizations?

How can managers use their emotions effectively?

Assigned Readings

Chapter 4: Emotions and Moods

Suggested Readings

Van Kleef, G. A., Homan, A. C., Beersma, B., Van Knippenberg, D., Van
Knippenberg, B., & Damen, F. (2009). Searing sentiment or cold calculation? The
effects of leader emotional displays on team performance depend on follower
epistemic motivation. Academy of Management Journal, 52(3), 562-580
Personalities & Perceptions
5
Why do individuals’ personalities matter? Can personalities be ‘measured’? If yes,
how do we measure them?

Class Exercise: Using MBTI & BFI to ‘measure’ personality

Biases, attributions and selective perception

Assigned Readings

Chapter 5: Personality & Values

Chapter 6: Perception & Individual Decision Making

Suggested Readings:

3
 Prislin, R., & Kovrlija, N. (1992). Predicting behavior of high and low self-monitors:
An application of the theory of planned behavior. Psychological Reports, 70(3_suppl),
1131-1138
Motivation
6
Critical look at major motivational theories.

Application of Motivational Theories

Class Exercise: Discussion of Case

Assigned Readings

Chapter 7: Motivation Concepts

Chapter 8: Motivation: From Concepts to Applications

Case: Hausser Foods Products Company

Module 2: Groups

7 Groups & Teams

Developing tools to understand groups – Social Networks

How the groups we belong to shape our reality – Social Identities

Class Exercise - Island Survival

Assigned Readings

Chapter 9: Foundations of Group Behavior

Chapter 10: Understanding Work Teams

Recommended Readings

Granovetter, M. S. (1977). The strength of weak ties. In Social networks (pp. 347-
367).

4
 Ashforth, B. E., & Mael, F. (1989). Social identity theory and the organization.
Academy of management review, 14(1), 20-39.

8 Leadership, Power & Politics

What does politics mean in the organizational context? How can we effectively use
politics in organizations?

What is leadership? What is leadership in organizational settings?

Assigned Readings

Chapter 12: Leadership

Chapter 13: Power & Politics

Suggested Readings

The 4 Types of Organizational Politics (https://hbr.org/2017/04/the-4-types-of-

organizational-politics)

Agle, B. R., Nagarajan, N. J., Sonnenfeld, J. A., & Srinivasan, D. (2006). Does CEO
charisma matter? An empirical analysis of the relationships among organizational
performance, environmental uncertainty, and top management team perceptions of
CEO charisma. Academy of management journal, 49(1), 161-174.

9 Conflict & Negotiation

What is the nature of conflict? Does conflict always lead to negative outcomes for
group performance?

What really constitutes a successful negotiation?

Class Exercise: Negotiating a contract

Assigned Readings

Chapter 14: Conflict & Negotiation

Suggested Readings

Jehn, K. A. (1995). A multimethod examination of the benefits and detriments of

intragroup conflict. Administrative science quarterly, 256-282

5
 Jehn, K. A., & Mannix, E. A. (2001). The dynamic nature of conflict: A longitudinal
study of intragroup conflict and group performance. Academy of management journal,
44(2), 238-251.

Module 3: Organization

11 Organizational Strategy & Strategic Decision making

How do firms make strategic decisions?

Is strategic decision making the same thing as having a strategy? Do all firms really
have a strategy?

Assigned Readings
Porter, M. E. (2008). The five competitive forces that shape strategy. Harvard business
review, 86(1), 25-40.

12 Organizational Structure & Corporate Social Responsibility

Why do the formal structures of organizations look like they do? Why are they so
similar?

Why are firms increasingly paying more attention to their social and environmental
responsibilities? Does the ‘why’ even matter?

Assigned Readings

Chapter 15: Foundations of Organizational Structure

Recommended Readings
DiMaggio, P. J., & Powell, W. W. (1983). The iron cage revisited: Institutional
isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields. American sociological
review, 147-160.

Garriga, E., & Melé, D. (2004). Corporate social responsibility theories: Mapping the
territory. Journal of business ethics, 53(1-2), 51-71.

13 Organizational Culture & Change

What do we mean when we say organizational culture is organic? Is it possible to alter

cultures in organizations?

6
 Why is change so relevant to organizations?

Class Exercise: Designing or seeding cultures in organizations? What would be the

difference?

Assigned Readings

Chapter 16: Organizational Culture

Chapter 17: Organizational Change & Stress Management

14 Presentations

Methodology:

The course relies on a combination of interactive lectures, readings, assignments, case discussions
and a term project/report. These will be lively sessions whereby students will be exposed to theory,
principles as well as practical situations through class discussions and come up with useful analysis
and solutions to problems.

The pedagogy will consist of:

1. Interactive lectures
2. Analysis of case
3. Readings
4. Projects/experiential learning
5. Article sessions
6. Exams and its selection
7. Professional, informative presentations by select students, group and individual; and guest
speakers (where possible).

The students will prepare a Term Report in groups. A final presentation of 15 minutes for each
group will be due before the final exams.

Grading Scheme:

10% Class Participation

10% Quizzes

15% Term Report

7
30% Mid Term Exam

35% Final Exam

Text Books:

1. Robbins, S., Judge, T. A., & Vohra, N. (2012). Organizational behavior. Dorling
Kindersley.

Course Assessment:

Class participation:

Grading for class participation is not based on the number of times you speak in class, but on the
quality of your interventions. A grade for quality participation in each session is based on two
considerations. Firstly, your intervention needs to be grounded in the topic under discussion.
Secondly, the participation needs to demonstrate your engagement with the topic. This can be
evidenced by either asking a question that furthers, clarifies or enriches the discussion or by linking
the ongoing discussion with other relevant ideas.

Term Report

 Students will be divided into groups of 5-6. In order to excel, you will need to get the best
out of each other based on your individual strengths.
 Your task is to critically analyze any topic that we have covered during the course that you
think does not completely or accurately represent reality. You will then have to suggest an
augmented or alternative model and then make the argument that it represents reality better
 Once your group has developed a model, you need to devise a way in which research could
be conducted to test whether your model represents reality better than the model (or theory)
that you critiqued.
 Primary research to test is not a requirement for the assignment, but a pilot study would
get bonus points.
 Please try to keep the write-up containing the three components of your report (the criticism
of existing model, arguments for alternative model and method to test your model) to a
maximum of 5,000 words. In case you need to provide additional information, please attach
it as an appendix to the main document.
8
Course Requirements:

Students are required to come to class on time, and to have read relevant chapters from the text
book in advance. Since class contributions are an integral part of the learning process, students are
requested to be respectful of the opinions of others.