APPLIES TO ACADEMIC YEAR 2013/2014

GRA 8162 Organizational Behaviour

Responsible for the course
Lars Glasø

Department
Department of Leadership and Organizational Behaviour

Term
According to study plan

ECTS Credits
3

Language of instruction
English

Introduction
Organizational behavior is the study of the structure, functioning and performance of organizations, and the behavior of groups and individuals within them. This course will provide an overview of contemporary research based knowledge in organizational behavior, and an overview of the most important topics, concepts, and contributions within this field.

In this course we emphasize the human side of organizations. While less informed leaders sometimes consider this area as “soft” and not very important for organizational effectiveness, recent decades of research has shown that human capital development is actually one of the most promising investment areas in our time. Thus, this course will review psychological theory in areas of communication, emotion, motivation, HRM, organizational culture, group dynamics, conflicts, stress, workplace bullying, change and resistance to change as well as individual differences like human personality and constructive and destructive leadership behavior.

Learning outcome
The course participants shall obtain a basic understanding of contemporary research knowledge in organizational behavior, and get an overview of the most important topics, concepts, and contributions within this field.

After completion of the course, the students should be able to examine critically theories and studies in organizational behavior. During this module participants should develop a practitioner oriented view on how to develop human capital to reach strategically based goals

The participants should be able to communicate and discuss major theories and research findings from this field, taking into account strengths and limitations as well as cultural perspectives.

Prerequisites
Granted admission to the EMBA programme.

Compulsory reading
Books:
Greenberg, Jerald. 2011. Behavior in organizations. 10th ed. Pearson

Collection of articles:
Selected articles in compendium

Recommended reading

Course outline
Tentative topic schedule
Part 1: Perception, communication, emotions, motivation and personality
Part 2: Group dynamics, Conflicts, Workplace bullying and Stress
Part 3: Leadership, Organizational culture, Organizational change, HRM

Computer-based tools


Learning process and workload
1 ECTS credit corresponds to a workload of 26-30 hours.

The course duration is 24 hours and class meetings will consist of lectures, student presentations, group exercises and discussions of the main topics. Students are expected to participate actively and to make class presentations during the course

Attendance to all sessions in the course is compulsory. If you have to miss part(s) of the course you must ask in advance for leave of absence. More than 20% absence in a course will require retaking the entire course. It's the student's own responsibility to obtain any information provided in class that is not included on the course homepage/ It's learning or other course materials

Examination
The students will be evaluated by the following elements:
Class participation, counting 20 %
Case presentations throughout the module, counting 30 %
Individual written assignmen, counting 50 %.

This is a course with continuous assessment (several exam elements) and one final exam code. Each exam element will be graded using points on a scale (e.g. 0-100). The elements will be weighted together according to the information in the course description in order to calculate the final letter grade for the course.

Specific information regarding student evaluation beyond the information given in the course description will be provided in class. This information may be relevant for requirements for term papers or other hand-ins, and/or where class participation can be one of several elements of the overall evaluation

Examination code(s)
GRA 81621 - Continuous assessment; accounts for 100 % to pass the course GRA 8162, 3 ECTS credits

The course is a part of a full Executive Master of Business Administration Program and all evaluations must be passed to obtain a certificate for the degree.

Examination support materials


Re-sit examination
Re-takes are only possible at the next time a course will be held. When course evaluation consists of class participation or continuous assessment, the whole course must be re-evaluated when a student wants to retake a exam. Retake examinations entail an extra examination fee.

Additional information