NEW  YORK  INSTITUTE  OF  TECHNOLOGY

school  of  management

 

mgmt 605

 

organizational  development and behavioral factors

 

DR. STEPHEN  W. HARTMAN

MBA PROGRAM

NO PREREQUISITES

3  CREDITS

spring, 2009

 

office

wisser library, Rm. 312, 3rd floor

Office Hours Tuesdays and Thursdays 2-4 PM and by appointment

 

old westbury OFFICE  TEL.: (516) 686-7972  O.W.

 

Reference Web Site http://members.aol.com/shart62475/

Course Web Site http://iris.nyit.edu/~shartman

 

 

 

INTRODUCTION

This graduate seminar presents a review of organizational theory and the dynamics of the participation of management and employees in modern organizations.  It deals with the areas of authority and power, decision making, communication, interpersonal relations, organizational change, and conflict resolution.  Special consideration is given to group participation in terms of its contribution to the process of problem solving and decision making.  Human values, motivation, and morale are also reviewed particularly as they relate to the influences of supervision and productivity expectations.

course objectives

1) Provide the student with an appreciation of organizational behavior, and see its emergence as a research field.

 

2) Broaden the understanding of basic theories of human development and interaction within the organization.

 

3) Develop a deeper understanding of the administrative processes of an organization by systematically analyzing its subsystems.

 

4) Study the understanding of the organization and operation of small groups and assess their impact on the super ordinate organization.

 

5) Increase the "Human Skills" of the student, which are so necessary in the modern organization.

 

6) Understand and be able to perform the role of the manager as it is actually experienced in an organizational setting by performing structured managerial interviews in at least three organizations.  SEE RESEARCH PROJECT P. 7.

 

course procedure

 

This seminar will be an interactive process providing exposure to lectures, case studies, discussions and research.  The students are expected to have done all of the readings and course related work prior to the actual class session.  Failure to do the readings and related work prevents the student from adequately participating in the classroom discussions and thus detracts from the overall quality of the seminar.  Please do your part!

 

student  subscriptions

 

As graduate MBA students it is expected in this course that each student will at least read the Wall Street Journal.  The instructor will make available a special student discount subscription form for those not having access to the paper. 

 

In recent years there has been a flood of business journalism as the environment of business assumes center stage importance in current day events.  Students are therefore asked to consult other publications such as the New York Times Business Section, Forbes magazine, Money magazine, and the ETV program Wall Street Week, as well as TV business wrap-up programming. 

 

While it is impossible to keep up with everything, students should at least be aware of the major developments of the day.   Consistent with this philosophy students are asked to cut out and bring to class one business article from the business press each class session.  Prepare to be called on and discuss the contents of the article with the class.  READ YOUR BUSINESS PUBLICATIONS!

required readings

 

McShane, and Von Glinow, Organizational Behavior, 4/e (New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc., 2008).  ISBN: 0073049778.

examinations

 

There will be two multiple choice examinations based upon the readings in the text and lecture material.

 

grade weighting

 

Mid Term  30%

Final Examination   30%

Term Paper      30%

Class Participation (Articles) 10%

grading

90-100 = A

86-89 = b+

80-85 = B

76-79 = c+

70-75 = C

0-69 = F

 

attendance

 

If you stay current in your readings, get the notes, and do the assignments, isolated absences should not, in general, have any adverse effects.  However, more than three absences may force your withdrawal. 

 

Please exchange phone numbers with those sitting around you.  Please do not call to notify me of your absence unless you have an unusual problem.  Your absence will be obvious.  If you do miss a class, stay current by calling one of your classmates and get the notes etc.

 

 

a  B  AVERAGE IS A PASSING GRADE 

IN ALL graduate courses.

MAKEUP EXAMINATIONS ARE given on campus only

STUDENTS WHO DO NOT PASS the

EXAMINATIONS WILL NOT PASS THE COURSE!

reading assignments

 

 

WEEK    CHAPTER

 


1          Chapter 1   Introduction to the Field of Organizational Behavior

2          Chapter 2   Individual Behavior, Values, and Personality

 

3          Chapter 3   Perception and Learning in Organizations

 

4          Chapter 4   Workplace Emotions and Attitudes.  Chapter 5   Motivation in the

            Workplace.


5         Chapter 6      Applied Performance Practices.


6          Chapter 7     Work-Related Stress and Stress Management

 

7          Chapter 8     Decision Making and Creativity.  Mid Term examination.  Fifty

            question multiple choice.


 8        Chapter 9      Foundations of Team Dynamics.   Chapter 10.  High Performance

            Teams


9         Chapter 11    Communicating in Teams and Organizations

 

10       Chapter 12     Power and Influence in the Workplace.  Chapter 13.  Conflict and

            Negotiation in the Workplace

 

11       Chapter 14    Leadership in Organizational Settings

 

12        Chapter 15 Organizational Structure. 

 

13        Chapter 16   Organizational Culture. TERM PAPER IS DUE April 30, 2009! 

             ALL LATE PAPERS ARE REDUCED BY AT LEAST ONE FULL LETTER

             GRADE!!

 

14        Chapter 17 Organizational Change

 

15.       Final Examination,  May 14th, 2009.  Fifty question multiple choice. 

 

reference

 

Dictionary of Business Terms, Third Edition (New York: Barrons Educational Series, Inc., 2000).

Dictionary of International Business Terms, Third Edition (New York: Barrons Educational Series, Inc., 2004).

Kate L. Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses and Dissertations Turabian Academic Reference Guide.

bibliography

 

Argyris, Chris. Personality and Organization.  New York: Harper Torch Books, 1957.

Argyris, Chris & D. A. Schon. Organizational Learning: A Theory of Action Perspective. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley Publishing Co., 1977.

Bennis, Warren.  On Becoming a Leader. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley Publishing Co., 1989.

Cascio, Wayne F. Managing Human Resources. NY: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1986.

Fayol, Henri.  General and Industrial Management, Constance Storrs (trans.).  London, England: Pitman, 1949. 

Fiedler, Fred E.  A Theory of Leadership Effectiveness.  New York: McGraw-Hill, 1967.

Friedman, Thomas, Up the Ladder: Coping with the Corporate Climb. NY: Warner Books, 1986.

Hersey, Paul and Blanchard, Kenneth H.  Management of Organizational Behavior, 4th ed.   Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1982.

Lawler, Ed, Motivation in Work Organizations. Monterey, CA: Brooks/Cole Publishers, 1973)

Likert, Rensis.  The Human Organization.  NY: McGraw-Hill, 1967. 

Lodge, George C., The American Disease. NY: New York University Press, 1986.

Maslow, Abraham H., Motivation and Personality. New York: Harper & Row, 1970.

    Mintzberg, Henry.  The Nature of Managerial Work.  NY: Harper & Row, 1973. 

Organization theory: from Chester Barnard to the present and  beyond.  New York  Oxford University Press, 1990.   89-38918:

Rosen, Robert H.  The Healthy Company. New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher / Perigee Books published by The Putnam Publishing Group, 1991.

Thompson, Victor A., Modern Organization: A General Theory. NY: Alfred Knopf Inc., 1961.

   

scholarly  management  journals

 

Academy of Management Journal

Academy of Management Review

Administrative Science Quarterly

Decision Sciences

Industrial Relations

Journal of Business

Journal of Business Communication

Journal of Business and Psychology

Journal of Business Research

Journal of Management

Journal of Management Studies

Journal of Occupational Psychology

Journal of Organizational Behavior

Journal of Organizational Behavior Management

Management Science

Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes

Personnel Psychology

Public Administration Review

 


research  project

what  do  managers  do?

interviewing  questionnaire

 

At least three different managers, preferably from three different organizations, should be interviewed for the purpose of this paper.  The managers should have positions of as great authority as possible.  Describe in the paper what their positions are, what their responses are to the questionnaire, how the three different managers compare in terms of their respective responses, and what you learned from doing the exercise.  These papers will be discussed in class.  ALL PAPERS SHALL BE TYPED!  

 

Based on research managers have been shown to perform at least ten roles.  Not every manager performs every role; not every role is equally important in each manager's job.  There may be things managers do that are not included on this list.  Indeed, there is an "Other" category for including those things which are not found in this exercise.

 

The object of this assignment is to provide an experience in which you can collect some information on what contributions managers make to achieving organizational goals.  For purposes of this study, a manager is anyone whose job consists primarily of supervising other people in organizations.

 

Since so many of our students are using word processing to prepare their research papers, I strongly recommend students use the spelling checker option to reduce the number of spelling and typographical errors and the use of a Grammar Checker to check the grammar of all written work.   Grammar and spelling will be a factor in the grade for all papers!   

Instructions

 

1.  Find three managers and conduct the interviews, using the attached form as a guide.  Obtain numerical answers, using the scale provided, for all of the questions, and place their answers in the suggested summary sheet at the end of this outline.  Determine:

 

a. Which are the most important roles-those which contribute to effective performance on the job?

b.  Which are the most time-consuming?

c.  Ask the manager to give an example of the role in question.

 

2.  Discuss the results with the manager. Ask: Were there any roles that you had expected to be more (or less) important before the interview?  Were there any roles where the time consumed seemed disproportionate to the importance of the role? 

 

3.  Take notes on the interview and bring them with you to class for reference in the class discussion when the project is considered.

 

4.  You do not need to supply the name of the manager interviewed.  We are only interested in developing a sample of managerial views of their job.  The responses will be anonymous, and you should treat the interview as a confidential communication.

 

The ten roles and the typical activities involved in them are listed below, together with a space for you to list items that may be important but not provided for.  For each role, enter the appropriate numbers based upon the following scale. 

 

For the category "Importance", enter a number reflecting how important the role is to effective job performance for the manager.  The scale of values for this category are: 1 = of no importance; 2 = of minimal importance; 3 = of some importance; 4 = of considerable importance;   5 = of very high importance.

 

The next category, "Time", describes how time-consuming the role is for the manager.  The scale values for this category are: 1 = no time consumed; 2 = minimal time consumed; 3 = some time consumed; 4 = considerable time consumed; 5 = a very high amount of time consumed.

 

Finally, in the category "Example" briefly note an example of the job duties performed in fulfilling this role.  Complete each of these categories for the three managers even if examples are difficult.

 

1.  Acts as legal and symbolic head; performs obligatory social, ceremonial, or legal duties (retirement dinner, luncheon for employees, plant dedication, annual dinner dance, civic affairs, signs contract on behalf of firm etc.)

 

Importance ______   Time  ______   Example ____________________________

 

_________________________________________________________________

 

2.  Motivates, develops, and guides subordinates; staffing, training, and associated duties (management by objectives, provides challenging assignments, develops people, selects personnel, encourages subordinates, trains new employees)

 

Importance ______   Time  ______   Example ____________________________

 

_________________________________________________________________

 

3.  Maintains a network of contacts and information sources outside own group to obtain information and assistance (attends staff meetings, takes customer to lunch, attends professional meetings, meets with manager of department X, keeps abreast of upcoming design changes etc.).

 

Importance ______   Time  ______   Example _____________________________

 

_________________________________________________________________

 

4.  Seeks and obtains information to understand organization and environment.  Acts as nerve center for organization (charts work flow, work-place meetings, audits expense control statements, reviews exception reports, reviews quotations, meets with production control)

 

Importance ______   Time  ______  Example _____________________________

 

_________________________________________________________________

 

5.  Transmits information to subordinates within own organizational area of responsibility (workplace meetings, disseminates results of meetings, transmits policy letters, briefs subordinates, sends out copies of information, posts schedules and forecasts).

 

Importance ______   Time  ______  Example _____________________________

 

_________________________________________________________________

 

6.  Transmits information to persons outside of organizational area of responsibility (works with product committee, prepares weekly status reports, participates in meetings, deals with customer's coordinator, field sales).

 

Importance ______   Time  ______  Example _____________________________

 

_________________________________________________________________

 

7.  Searches organization and its environment for "improvement projects" to change products, processes, procedures, and organization.  Supervises design and implementation of change projects as well (cost reduction program, plant trip to X Division, changes forecasting system, brings in subcontract work to level work load, reorganizes department.

Importance ______   Time  ______   Example ____________________________

 

_________________________________________________________________

 

8.  Takes corrective action in time of disturbance or crisis (handles union grievances, negotiates sales problems, redistributes work during "crash programs," handles customer complaints, resolves personal conflicts, assigns engineers to problem jobs).

 

Importance ______   Time  ______   Example ____________________________

 

_________________________________________________________________

 

9.  Allocates organizational resources by making or approving decisions.  Scheduling, budgeting, planning, programming of subordinate's work, etc. (budgeting, program scheduling, assigns personnel, strategic planning, plans manpower load, sets objectives).

 

Importance ______   Time  ______   Example ____________________________

 

_________________________________________________________________

 

10.  Represents organization in negotiating of sales, labor, or other agreements.  Represents department or group negotiating with other functions within the organization (negotiates with suppliers, assists in quoting on new work, negotiates with union, hires, resolves jurisdictional dispute with department X, negotiates sales contract)

 

Importance ______   Time  ______   Example ____________________________

 

_________________________________________________________________

 

11.  Other:

 

Importance ______   Time  ______   Example ____________________________

 

_________________________________________________________________

 

The Mintzberg roles are given - though not labeled - on the questionnaire in the following order:

 

Interpersonal Roles                       Information Roles               Decisional Roles

 

1.  Figurehead                                  4.  Monitor                             7.  Entrepreneur

2.  Leader                                          ("Nerve Center"                    8.  Disturbance

3.  Liaison                                          in Mintzberg)                              Handler

                                                5.  Disseminator                   9.  Resource Allocator

                                                6.  Spokesperson              10.  Negotiator                              

 

In the body of the paper compare and contrast the different managers in terms of the importance rating and time consumed for each of the management functions.  Do this by function rather than by manager, i.e., compare all three managers' responses functionally.  Use the examples they gave you to document your  conclusions.  Discuss any differences and the "other" category.  Original methods of interpreting and analyzing your data are encouraged.

 

Summarize the report in terms of why you believe the managers agreed and disagreed on the importance rating and time consumed for the functions discussed.  Be prepared to discuss your results in class.

 

Please use the following suggested Report Format for summarizing your interviews.  Please average the importance and time categories for your three managers.  This will provide an index of the most important and time consuming functions as well as giving an overall importance/time indicator.

 

report format

importance rating and time consumed

for managers interviewed by function

(i = importance rating

t = time consumed)

                                                                                                                                       Functional

                                                                                                        Average    Avg.   Ratio

Role                            Manager A  Manager B   Manager C  Importance Time   I / T

 

Interpersonal Roles

 

Figurehead               I   T                  I   T                  I   T                  AVG.      AVG.   I / T

Leader                        I   T                  I   T                  I   T                  AVG.      AVG.   I / T

Liaison                       I   T                  I   T                  I   T                  AVG.      AVG.   I / T

 

Interpersonal Role

Averages                   I   T                  I   T                  I   T                  AVG.      AVG.   I / T

 

INFORMATIONAL ROLE

 

Monitor                       I   T                  I   T                  I   T                  AVG.      AVG.   I / T

Disseminator                        I   T                  I   T                  I   T                  AVG.      AVG.   I / T

Spokesman              I   T                  I   T                  I   T                  AVG.      AVG.   I / T

 

Informational Role

Averages                   I   T                  I   T                  I   T                  AVG.      AVG.   I / T

 

 

 

DECISIONAL ROLE

                                                                                                                                       Functional

                                                                                                        Average    Avg.   Ratio

Role                            Manager A  Manager B   Manager C  Importance Time   I / T

 

Entrepreneur                            I   T              I   T                  I   T                 AVG.      AVG.   I / T

Disturbance Handler     I   T           I   T                  I   T                 AVG.      AVG.   I / T

Resource Allocator      I   T              I   T                  I   T                 AVG.      AVG.   I / T

Negotiator                      I   T              I   T                  I   T                 AVG.      AVG.   I / T

 

Decisional Role

Averages                       I   T              I   T                  I   T                 AVG.      AVG.   I / T

 

Total Average               I   T              I   T                  I   T                 AVG.      AVG.   I / T

 

Manager I / T Ratio      I / T              I / T                  1 / T    

 

In the body of the paper compare and contrast the different managers in terms of the importance rating and time consumed for each of the management roles and functions.  Use the examples they gave you to document your conclusions.  All papers will include a research report as detailed above.   Discuss any differences and utilize the "other" category.  Do not simply itemize each manager.  It is ESSENTIAL to compare and contrast all three managers functionally by incorporating the overall findings from your research report.  What is required here is critical comparative thinking.  Use the I / T ratio to compare the managers in terms of the importance they give to an individual function and the time they actually spend doing it. 

 

Summarize the report in terms of why you believe the managers agreed and disagreed on the importance rating and time consumed for the functions discussed. Draw conclusions as to why the managers reached the judgments they did.  Be prepared to discuss your results in class.