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Organizational Behaviour and Human Resources Management

MBA5330E

MBA5330EE

Fall 2015

Course Deliverables Due Date Weight on

Final Grade

Team Book Review Written report (20%) and

presentation (10%) submitted in

hard copy at least 24 hours before

your presentation.

30%

Mid-Term Exam Week 7 (Oct 12-16) 30%

Participation Ongoing 15%

Learning Log (see Appendix 1) Nov. 30 - Dec. 12 25%

*see below for details concerning the protocol for grading of group work in Telfer MBA

courses. Please note the requirement for a Turnitin™ “authenticity report” for all written

submissions.

Professor Joanne Leck, Ph.D.

Office DMS 6107

E-Mail leck@telfer.uottawa.ca

Telephone 613-562-5800 ext. 4644 (email preferred)

Office Hours By appointment

Class Location DMS 4th

floor, Room 4120

Class Hours Section E: Tuesday 16:00-19:00

Section EE: Thursday 8:30-11:30

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COURSE DESCRIPTION

Human resources are one of the most important assets for achieving organizational

success: The people make the place. In fact, human resource management is recognized

as one of the most important factors contributing to, and maintaining, an organization’s

competitive advantage. Effective human resource management is also an important

determinant of an organization’s capacity to adapt to its environment and changes

therein. In short, human resource management is essential to the creation and survival of

high performance organizations.

Effective human resource management occurs within organizations. Organizational

behaviour concerns the impact that individuals, groups, and structure have on behaviour

within organizations. Given the interrelated nature of these disciplines and their

collective importance in achieving organizational goals a consideration of both areas is

critical.

The focus of the Telfer MBA is “High Performance.” This course will help students to

better understand how to manage their human resources to more easily achieve

organizational high performance. Students will become acquainted with the theories,

methods and applications of contemporary behavioural science in the management of

individuals in organizations. Therefore, this course is designed to provide students with a

greater understanding of why individuals behave the way they do within the

organizational context and what managers can do to promote effective and productive

behaviours. The course will explore fundamentals of both human resource management

and organizational behaviour and topics will be interspersed to follow a logical relational

approach. Human resource topics include: recruitment and selection, training,

development, and performance feedback. Organizational behaviour topics include

organizational culture, values, attitudes and diversity, organizational leadership, groups

and teamwork, motivation, communications and negotiation, power and politics, and

organizational change.

This course will employ lectures, discussions, case analyses, simulations and applied

activities, and videos. Students are strongly encouraged to actively participate in every

aspect of the class. They are further encouraged to read more widely, and reflect on their

own professional experiences as these are key sources of information for questions,

discussions, and other related classroom interactions. Please keep in mind that class

discussions and debates are one of the most valuable aspects of an MBA education.

COURSE LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Increased knowledge of:

The general dimensions of job design, performance review and performance

management;

The practice of employee recruitment and selection;

The general manager’s strategic perspective on employee motivation, job

attitudes, and compensation;

Selected topics in organizational communication, motivation, negotiation, conflict

management, leadership, organizational culture, and ethics;

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The legal environment that impacts human resources management and

organizations.

LINKS OF COURSE OBJECTIVES TO OVERALL TELFER SCHOOL LEARNING OBJECTIVES

This course contributes to the following Telfer School MBA Learning Objectives:

M.B.A. LG2: Understanding and Integrating Business Functions

M.B.A. LG3: Developing a Strategic Perspective

M.B.A. LG4: Developing Leadership, Communication and Teamwork Skills for High

Performance Organizations.

METHODS USED TO EVALUATE STUDENT PERFORMANCE

Team Book Review and Presentation (30%)

Each group will choose a popular management advice book to review (see

https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/management for popular titles). The choice must

be approved by me. The book should be summarized and critiqued. The critique should

include both positive and negative reflections. The implications of the book's advice to

the management of human resources should be discussed. Finally, your team must decide

if they would recommend the book to today's manager and discuss why or why not.

Written team case reports must not exceed 20 pages, excluding appendices and cover

sheet, 12- pitch, times new roman font. Reports must be accompanied by the team’s

statement of ethical behaviour signed by every member of the team. The report must also

include the Turnitin™ “authenticity report."

Your team will present the summary, critique, implications and recommendation at the

end of the term. The order of team presentations will be determined by the professor. All

members must be involved in the presentation and the presentation should be no longer

than 20 minutes. All forms of media are permitted.

More guidance is provided on this deliverable at the end of this course outline.

Participation (15%)

Participation will be judged on the basis of attendance, involvement in and preparation

for group activities, and participation in class discussions. Please provide me with an

index card with your picture (photocopy is OK - but make sure you are recognizable -

and your name by the second lecture). A letter grade will be assigned. Below expectations

(C C+)

Meets expectations

(B A-)

Above expectations

(A A+)

Learning Log (25%)

A Learning Log is basically a log or record or journal of your own learning. It is not

necessarily a formal ‘academic’ piece of work. It is a personal record of your own

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learning. As such it is a document which is unique to you and cannot be ‘right’ or

‘wrong’. A Learning Log helps you to record, structure, think about and critically reflect

upon, plan, develop and evidence your own learning. A letter grade will be assigned.

Below expectations

(C C+)

Learning Log is more a

record of what happened and

does not include much

critical reflection

Meets expectations

(B A-)

Learning Log contains some

entries that demonstrate critical

reflection while other entries do

not

Above expectations

(A A+)

Most entries demonstrate

critical reflection

Mid Term (30%)

The midterm will consist of a case, much like those covered in class. The case will be

made accessible 24 hrs before the midterm to allow time for reading. The questions will

at the beginning of the midterm.

Exam make-up policy: If students miss an exam due to medical reasons or personal

emergencies, it is their responsibility to contact the professor and the MBA office within

24 hours of missing the exam. Students will only be allowed to take a make-up exam

upon providing an official documentation (e.g., doctor notes in case of a medical

emergency) detailing the reason for the absence. Make-ups, if permitted, may differ from

the original exam in terms of the number of questions asked and/or question format.

TEXTBOOK

Harvard Case Package:

https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/access/27123210

Organizational Behaviour and Human Resource Management – MBA5330:

https://create.mheducation.com/shop/#/catalog/details/?isbn=9781308612997

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COURSE AGENDA

Date

Topic

Case

(to be prepared before class unless otherwise

indicated)

Readings, etc.

Week 1

Introduction

Casper Grant

(to be distributed in

class)

Case Analysis Coach

Week 2

The Legal Environment

Diversity in the Workplace

Sexual Harassment

Denny’s

(blackboard – please

print)

From Affirmative

Action to Affirming

Diversity

Week 3

Employee Selection and

Interviewing

Recruiting for a

Multinational

Enterprise in China

The Influence of

Cross-Cultural

Differences on Job

Interview Selection

Decisions

Week 4

Motivation and Compensation

Organizational Justice

Performance

Management of

Vitality Health

Enterprises

Michael Simpson

(blackboard – please

print)

Aligning Compensation

Systems with

Organizational Culture

Week 5

Performance appraisal and

interviews

A Day in the Life of

Alex Sander

Getting 360-degree

Feedback Right

Week 6

Team Dynamics and Group

Behaviour

Medisys Corp.

Why Teams don't Work

What you don't Know

about Making

Decisions

Week 7

MIDTERM

TBA

Week 8

Conflict Management

The Used Car

Pakastani Prunes

Rahim Conflict

Inventory

Readings: 1, 2, 3

(Lewicki et al.)

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Date

Topic

Case

(to be prepared before class unless otherwise

indicated)

Readings, etc.

Week 9

Negotiation and Decision

Making

Porsche

(blackboard –

please print)

Readings: 4, 5 (Lewicki

et al.)

Week 10

Power, Influence and Political

Skills

The Twin Lakes

Mining Company

Readings: 6 - 11

(Lewicki et al.)

Week 11

Organizational Culture and

Change

Firing Employees

Lay-Off Exercise

(blackboard – please

print)

Taking the Stress out of

Stressful Conversation

Week 12

PRESENTATIONS

Week 13

PRESENTATIONS

GRADING RUBRIC FOR THE BOOK REVIEW

Each component is weighted equally in their contribution to the overall assignment grade.

Each of these components will be awarded a letter grade and the overall written report

grade will generally be the “average” of the letter grades awarded for each component.

Further guidance by component is given below.

Below expectations

(C C+)

Meets expectations

(B A-)

Above expectations

(A A+)

1. Summary and

Critique The summary

provides a

cursory

description of

book

Discussion of the

book's positive

contributions was

lacking

Discussion of the

book's negative

contributions was

lacking

The summary is

clear and the main

points were

reasonable

explained

The book's positive

contributions were

reasonably

explained and

supported

The book's negative

contributions were

reasonable

explained and

supported

The summary

is very clear

and the main points

were very well

explained

The book's positive

contributions were

very well explained

and supported

The book's negative

contribution were

very well explained

and supported

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Below expectations

(C C+)

Meets expectations

(B A-)

Above expectations

(A A+)

2. Implications to

the management of

human resources

The implications

are unclear and

support is not

particularly

compelling

There are several

issues that have

not been taken

into account with

respect to the

management of

human resources

The linkage of

course material is

marginal

The implications

are clear and

reasonable but

could have been

further expanded

The implications

are reasonably

complete and takes

into account the

main issues in the

management of

human resources

Good linkage of

relevant course

material

The implications

are very clear and

very compelling

The implications

are supported by

exceptionally

strong analyses that

take into account

the main issues in

the management of

human resources

The analysis

features some

library research

where appropriate

to bolster the

discussion

Excellent linkage of

relevant course

material is evident

in the analysis

3. Recommendation

of book to today's

manager

Unclear if

recommendation

was positive or

negative

Some clear and

convincing

arguments were

presented

Several clear and

convincing

arguments were

presented

4. Overall quality of

the report Several typos

and/or paper

difficult to read

(flow of ideas)

A few typos or flow

problems

Flawless (or nearly

flawless) writing

GRADING RUBRIC FOR THE PRESENTATION

The presentation is worth 10 marks of the 30 marks allotted to the case study. As with

the written report, a letter grade will be assigned to each of the following components:

Criteria

Timing and Member Contribution: Respect for time limit, time for all sections of

presentation, roughly equal contribution of team members.

Structure and Flow:

Transitions between team members, transition between sections, organization, clarity of

message, conciseness, logical flow of ideas

Visual Aids: Layout, readability, esthetics, grammar and spelling.

Presenters: Verbal (voice control: clarity, volume, speed, confidence) and non-verbal (eye contact,

body and hand movement, posture)

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The overall grade awarded for the presentation will be generally the average of the letter

grades awarded to each of the above components.

A word on the use of letter grades:

The letter grades used will be those customarily used by the Telfer School of

Management and the numeric value assigned to each letter grade will generally be the

middle value of the band at the discretion of the professor. For example, a letter grade of

B is associated with numeric grades of 70 74; for the purpose of this assignment the

numeric grade ascribed to a “B” would generally be 72.

Protocol for Grading of Group Work in Telfer MBA Courses

Working in teams is an important aspect of the Telfer MBA program. You are expected

to contribute fully to all assignments and to meet deadlines required by the team. Each

individual will be provided an opportunity to review the contributions of his or her

teammates. The purpose is to provide constructive feedback, but the peer evaluations

will also be used to adjust individual marks for those students who, according to their

teammates, are not contributing fully to the team’s deliverables. Please note that in some

situations, this reduction could lead to a failing grade for the course. Additional

information will be provided on the exact method for peer evaluation during your

orientation to the program.

Please also note that students must achieve a passing grade on the individual components

of their course submissions as well as on their overall course grade. It is not acceptable

for a student to use the group component of their grades to raise their final overall grade

to a passing level. Students who do not achieve a passing grade on their individual

performance in a class will be assigned a grade consistent with their individual grade

achievement. For example, if a student receives an aggregate grade of 75% based on a

combination of an 80% score on group assignments and a 60% score on their individual

assignments, the final grade assigned will be 60%.

Beware of Academic Fraud Academic fraud is an act committed by a student to distort the marking of assignments,

tests, examinations and other forms of academic evaluation. Academic fraud is neither

accepted nor tolerated by the University. Anyone found guilty of academic fraud is liable

to severe academic sanctions.

Here are a few examples of academic fraud:

• engaging in any form of plagiarism or cheating;

• presenting falsified research data;

• handing in an assignment that was not authored, in whole or in part, by the

student;

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• submitting the same assignment in more than one course, without the written

consent of the professors concerned

In recent years, the development of the Internet has made it much easier to identify

academic plagiarism. The tools available to your professors allow them to trace the exact

origin of a text on the Web, using just a few words.

In cases where students are unsure whether they are at fault, it is their responsibility to

consult the University’s Web site at the following address, where you will find tools for

writing papers and assignments: http://www.sass.uottawa.ca/en/Toolkit/index.html You

are also encouraged to consult the “Beware of Plagiarism!” document, as well as the

other documents posted on doc-depot under “Academic Fraud”, that deal with this

important issue, and the document entitled “How to avoid plagiarism” which can be

found under the following web site

http://www.socialsciences.uottawa.ca/eng/writing_tools.asp under Tools for Writing

Papers and Assignments. We thank the Faculty of Social Sciences for allowing the

School of Management students to consult this site.

Persons who have committed or attempted to commit (or have been accomplices to)

academic fraud will be penalized. Here are some examples of the academic sanctions,

which can be imposed:

• a grade of “F” for the assignment or course in question;

• an additional program requirement of between three and thirty credits;

• suspension or expulsion from the School.

Please be advised that professors have been formally advised to report every suspected

case of academic fraud. In most cases of a first offence of academic fraud, the sanction

applied to students who have been found guilty is an “F” for the course with an additional

three credits added to their program requirements. Repeat offenders are normally

expulsed from the School of Management.

Important Notice

On a number of occasions over past years students have requested that we videotape

lectures in circumstances where they unavoidably have to be absent from class. While

there are a number of issues associated with undertaking such an approach (availability of

technology, cost, IP issues with the professors, and privacy issues for the students), we

have reached the point where technologically we have the capability to fulfill such

requests on an exceptional basis.

Acceptable reasons to request the videotaping of a course:

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A student may make a request that a course be videotaped on any of the following grounds:

1. Illness or other medical condition:

Students should obtain a medical certificate from the University Health Service (located at 100 Marie-Curie, (564-3950);

2. Religious holidays;

3. Death in the immediate family;

4. Business trip or other unavoidable constraints related to work (part-time students) : Students should provide a letter from the employer, and

a copy of their plane ticket;

5. Other compassionate grounds, with justifying documents.

The request should be made at least 48 hrs in advance (2 business days) to the professor.

The professor reserves the right to refuse such a request based on IP or other pedagogical

considerations.

If for any reason you object to a class in which you participate being videotaped, please

inform the professor as soon as possible. For further information, please contact us by e-

mail at mba@telfer.uottawa.ca (MBA) and mha@telfer.uottawa.ca (MHA)

The Following Section will be automatically added in the Grad Office

prior to posting. It represents the requirement to have peer evaluations

that have an impact on overall student grades for assignments.

ACCESS SERVICE - For students needing adaptive measures

If barriers are preventing you from integrating into university life and you need adaptive

measures to progress (physical setting, arrangements for exams, learning strategies, etc.),

contact Access Service right away:

- in person at the University Centre, Room 339;

- online at www.sass.uOttawa.ca/access/registration;

- by phone at 613-562-5976 - TTY: 613-562-5214.

Access Service designs services and implements measures to break down barriers that

would otherwise impede the learning process for students with health problems (mental

or physical), visual impairments or blindness, hearing impairments or deafness,

permanent or temporary disabilities, or learning disabilities.

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Deadlines for submitting requests for adaptive measures during exams

All final exams

- Fall session: Before November 15

- Winter session: Before March 15

- Spring/Summer: 7 days before the exam (not including the day of the exam and statutory

holidays)

All tests, mid-terms, deferred exams

- 7 days before the exam (not including the day of the exam and statutory holidays)

Get a head start on research. Visit the Library! The University of Ottawa Library has everything you need to produce quality results, quickly and efficiently.

- Use the Research Guides to get you started.

- Find scholarly articles, market intelligence, and much more in their collections.

- Book an appointment with a Librarian to get you/your group started on a challenging

research question.

- Visit the virtual Library or visit in person at the Desmarais building, rm. 2141.

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APPENDIX 1:

LEARNING LOG OR LEARNING JOURNALS

(adapted from: www.hull.ac.uk/php/cesagh/documents/LEARNINGLOG.doc)

A Learning Log is a journal which evidences your own learning and skills development.

It is not just a diary or record of “What you have done” but a record of what you have

learnt tried and critically reflected upon.

For example if in your Learning Log you include details of what you did or how you did

something then consider asking yourself questions such as:

Did it go well? Why? What did you learn?

Did it go badly? Why? What did you learn?

How can you improve for next time

A Learning Log contains your record of your experiences, thoughts, feelings and

reflections. One of the most important things it contains is your conclusions about how

what you have learnt is relevant to you and how you will use the new

information/knowledge/skill/technique in the future.

It may contain details of problems you have encountered and solved (or not solved).

Examples of where you have started to try out and practice a new skill and examples of

your own formal and informal learning. Formal learning is ‘taught’ in a formal academic

setting - for example via a lecture. Informal learning is learning which takes place outside

a formal academic setting, for example, though talking with friends or colleagues in a

social setting.

A Learning Log is a personal document. Its content may be very loosely structured and

only of relevance to you. Once you have commenced a Learning Log you will find it a

valuable and useful 'tool' to help your learning and to help you to think about and

structure your own learning.

How do I ‘do’ a Learning Log?

Try to write something down after every new learning experience.

What you did

Your thoughts

Your feelings

How well (or badly) it went

What you learnt

What you will do differently next time.

On a weekly basis, review what you have written and reflected upon this. Be honest with

yourself.

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Ask yourself questions such as:

Have I achieved anything? If so, what?

What progress have I made

Have I put any theory into practice?

How does what I have been doing lead to me becoming better at a skill?

How can I use this to plan for the future?

How can I use this to plan new learning?

Experiences?

In addition to a weekly reflection you should also ask yourself these questions the next

day or within 24-48 hours of each one of the taught sessions you attend or within 24-48

hours of having practiced a new skill. You will find that how you view something, (your

perception of something) changes over time. For example you may have been trying to

develop your communication skills and have had a bad or negative learning experience

when something went wrong and you feel you have made little or no or even backwards

progress. You may reflect upon this the next day and your thoughts and feelings may be

mainly negative ones. If you reflect about the experience 3-5 weeks later on you may

find that you have now overcome the negative experience and have used it to develop

further and improve yourself. Skills rarely suddenly develop or improve ‘overnight’.

Learning new knowledge and applying it within a skills context usually takes time, effort

and perseverance. A Learning Log will help you to become more aware of how you

learn, what learning tasks you enjoy (and don't enjoy) and of your emotional and

cognitive (thought) processes.

At first it may seem difficult to start to critically reflect upon your own learning. Over

time though you will find that it becomes easier. The more often that you practice the

skill of self reflection then the easier it will become.

You can use your Learning Log to record courses you went on, books you have read,

discussions you have had, Internet sites you have looked at, television programmes you

have watched. At the end of the day your log should become something that is directly

relevant to you and your learning.

Is there a ‘best’ or ‘correct’ way of producing a Learning Log?

Not really, the log should be relevant to you and your job/studies/role/activities. There is

no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ way of producing a Learning Log. Perhaps the three key questions

when engaging in the process of producing a Learning Log are:

Am I being honest with myself?

Is this a useful process for me?

Is this helping my own process of learning?

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If the answers are ‘yes’ then your Learning Log is correct and right for you. If the

answers are ‘no’ and you have genuinely asked yourself some of the questions previously

mentioned then perhaps a Learning Log may not really be of much use to you.

If you require any help, advice or guidance about your Learning Log or about how to get

started on one then please discuss it with your professor.

How can producing a Learning Log and developing the skill of critical self reflection help

me?

Again, that depends very much upon you. Some people will get more out of engaging in

the process of producing a Learning Log than other people will. Research has identified

that reflection can help people to change. Some of the changes which have been

identified are listed below.

(Adapted from C Miller, A Tomlinson, M Jones, Researching Professional Education 1994, University Of

Sussex).

Changes associated with reflection.

From To

Accepting Questioning

Intolerant Tolerant

Doing Thinking

Being Descriptive Analytical

Impulsive Diplomatic

Being Reserved Being more Open

Unassertive Assertive

Unskilled Communicators Skilled Communicators

Reactive Reflective

Concrete Thinking Abstract Thinking

Lacking Self Awareness Self Aware

You may wish to photocopy the sheets overleaf to use when writing your journal or

alternatively produce your own

LEARNING LOG

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What did I do?

How do I think/feel about this?

What did I think about but not say (or what did I want to say but did not)

How well (or badly) did it go?

What did I learn?

What will I do differently next time?

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How will I do it differently next time?

What have I achieved?

What have I learn about myself?

How have I put any theory into practice?

How does what I have been doing lead to me becoming better at a skill?

How can I use this to plan for the future?

(How) can I use this to plan new learning experiences?

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