Organizational Behaviour and Human Resource Management

This course is aligned with the major objective of the Telfer MBA program, which is to develop managerial competences required for “Leading High Performance Organizations.” It accepts as its premise that a key driver of high performance in any organization is the extent to which its employees fulfill performance expectations, which are intimately aligned with the overall strategy of the organization. This course combines the disciplines of Organizational Behaviour and Human Resource Management in a way that will provide you with an understanding of how people behave in the workplace. Moreover, you will be introduced to the Human Resource policies, practices, and tactics geared toward developing and maintaining healthy, capable, engaged, motivated, and committed employees in the pursuit of individual, group, and organizational level effectiveness. In this course, you will examine key topics in the fields of Organizational Behaviour and Human Resource Management with a view to understanding how managers influence employees — using formal and informal practices – to achieve and surpass the goals of complex organizational systems. Following in the tradition of the “humanism school,” the premise of this course is that people are one of the most important assets of modern organizations.

Certainly, management researchers have demonstrated that Human Resource Management is one of the most important factors contributing to and maintaining an organization’s strategic advantage. Effective Human Resource Management is, therefore, an important determinant of an organization’s capacity to adapt to its environment, and to the complexity and dynamics of the changes that occur both within and external to the organization. Understanding how individuals behave within the organizational context is therefore vital to formulating and implementing Human Resource Management policies and practices. In short, an understanding of Organizational Behaviour and Human Resource Management are essential to achieving high organizational performance. Given this emphasis, you will be given an opportunity to become acquainted with the theories, methods, and applications of contemporary research on managing people, work groups and organizations. You will also be provided with the means toward gaining a better understanding of how organizations work, and why individuals behave in the ways they do within the organizational context.

In this regard, the focus will be on understanding the micro, mezzo and macro challenges facing the organization at all levels (i.e. individual, interpersonal, group, and organizational levels, respectively). At the same time emphasis will also be placed on situating these issues within the larger society. Last, you will be encouraged to examine how to transfer this knowledge into organizational best practices leading to high organization performance. Class pedagogy will follow a constructivist orientation consisting of lectures, discussions, case analyses, simulations, and videos. Formal lectures will be brief, and will serve to discuss/synthesize ideas and concepts. Your responsibility as a student therefore, is to be prepared for class by reading and reflecting on all assigned materials. You will be expected to provide your thoughts on the readings, and explore your questions and doubts about ideas and concepts,. Moreover, you will be expected to provide relevant references from your own professional experiences as to whether the concept presented should be supported or debunked.

As a group, we will work hard to ensure that the classroom environment is a safe and supportive space in which we can openly discuss the course material, share ideas, and opinions. To this end I will encourage open communication, respect for other points of views, and respectful disagreement. Consequently, you are strongly encouraged to participate actively in every aspect of the class (i.e., discussions, case analyses, simulations). You are further encouraged to read more widely, and reflect on your own professional experiences as these are key sources of information for questions, discussions, and other related classroom interactions.

Your class participation and learning will be enhanced if you perform the following: • debating ideas; • raising and answering questions; • sharing ideas and insights; • sharing personal experiences and observations; • pointing out relevant data; • generating solutions; • relating and synthesizing ideas of others; • pointing out relations to earlier discussions/material; and • helping others develop their views and ideas. These approaches are designed to help you develop critical thinking skills, and to practise making arguments and/or defending your point of view in front of your peers. Last, they will assist you further develop your ability to “think on your feet,” a competence seen as highly desirable for managers to possess.

Course Learning Objectives
At the successful completion of this course, you will have increased knowledge of: • • The theory and practical implications of job performance and its relevance to organizational effectiveness; Contemporary management thinking regarding the influence of individual differences, and cultural factors on employee attitudes and motivation, leadership, organizational communication and structure that will help you predict and understand how individuals function in organizations; The general manager’s strategic perspective related to Human Resource Management, more specifically the policies and practices associated with the attraction, recruitment, selection, motivation, and retention of critical talent, especially as these relate to the legal environment; Familiarity with important operational Human Resource Management functions related to performance management such as compensation, performance appraisal, and general employee management; A review of theories and practices related to global management; and Selected concepts covered by the fields of industrial and organizational psychology, social psychology, management, and systems theory in a way that engages you actively in exploring your own work and living environment from an organizational perspective.

Methods Used to Evaluate Student Performance
The evaluation that will be used in this course is designed to assess the following: 1) knowledge and understanding of the theory, research, policies and practices in Organizational Behaviour and Human Resource Management and 2) the acquired ability to use course materials to solve practical problems and ensure high organizational performance. Last, a secondary purpose of this assessment approach is to provide students with the opportunity to improve their oral and written communication skills, and to cultivate and reinforce team-building competencies. The evaluation breakdown is as follows:

 Team Class Topic Facilitation: Individual Article Review Mid-Term Exam: Team Case Analysis and Presentation Final Exam Total: Team Class Topic Facilitation (10%) An important skill that managers must have is an ability to facilitate a group discussion. Your team will therefore share in the responsibility for the delivery of the discussion topic of the week by facilitating one (1) class topic during the semester. Activities will include: • • • Locating at least one recent example from the media to illustrate the concepts being discussed for that class; Developing five (5) questions to engage the class in discussion; and Actively stimulating class discussion during the actual class. 10 points 10 points 20 points 30 points 30 points —————100 points

Given that you will be responsible for contributing significantly to creating a learning atmosphere for the class, you are free to choose whatever format you think would be effective in achieving this objective. If you propose using a presentation format, the maximum time allotted to your team will be 15 minutes. Your approach and questions are due at least 24 hours before the scheduled class. Individual Article Review (10%) You will be required to read and provide a critical summary of one recent professional journal article, not provided for in the readings of this course, dealing with a Management issue related to the topics in this course. A list of approved journals for this assignment is provided in Doc Depot. You will be required to extract and critique the salient points from the article, and identify the implications for the practice of management in high performance organizations. This report must be word processed, double-spaced, 12-point font, and have 1” margins (max length: 5 pages). Be sure to attach a copy of the article as an appendix to your review.

Team Case Analysis Report and Presentation (30%) This project is aimed at giving you an opportunity to formally incorporate meaningful real life experiences into a project reflective of leader and management issues and practices. The project should examine a real life documented business case study (i.e. corporate or governmental practical application of theories and practices related to the topic of your paper), and the collaborative collective personal experiences, explanations and reflections of the individual members of the group. The project characteristics are as follows: • • • • • Not to exceed ten (10) pages, double-spaced, times new roman 12 point font. This page limitation excludes title page, bibliography, footnotes and any annexes; Have page numbers, be grammatically sound, demonstrate a research effort, and contain statements that are supported by independent sources; Demonstrate a responsibility to scholarship by containing a bibliography and footnotes in APA-5 format; Have a cover page with all team members’ names and student numbers in alphabetical order by last name; and Include a group ethical statement containing all the required information in the same order as the cover page.

On the last day of the course, your team should be prepared to give a very brief presentation (no more than 10 minutes) on what you have learned about the application of Human Resource Management and Organizational Behaviour theories and practices from your project. Apart from an overall summary of your project, you should incorporate the following questions in your presentation: to what extent has the material covered in the course been/not been consistent/helpful with the group’s independent research effort? What else would the group would have liked to learn about this topic? Ten (10) percent of your grade will be reserved for the presentation. This presentation will take place in-class so that you can share your groups’ insights with your peers. Note that you must be present for the entire session in order to earn this mark. You may use PowerPoint and any other presentation aids you see fit, however, keep in mind that you are expected to make a formal presentation, similar to what you would make to senior management. An evaluation rubric is available in Doc Depot. Criteria for evaluation will include: Conceptual clarity (lucid thinking, clear presentation of ideas); Issue description (comprehensiveness, depth of detail);

Critical analysis (objective critique of material); Internal logic and consistency (flow of ideas, connectedness of writing); and Originality and creativity (uniqueness, inventiveness)

As a general guideline, please prepare a written document and a presentation that meet (if not exceed) professional standards of quality. In preparing these materials, please think about what would impress your own supervisors. As the due date for this assignment gets closer, we will spend some class time talking about these requirements in more detail. Mid-Term Exam (20%) This mid-term examination will be 3 hours in duration and take place during the exam week. This exam should be viewed as a checkpoint of your learning and your conceptual mastery of the material to date in this course. All topics covered up to this point in the term, including class activities and presentations from guest speakers are considered potential material for this examination. FINAL EXAM (30%) Similar to the mid-term, the final examination for this course will also be 3 hours in duration and take place during final’s week. All topics covered in the course, including class activities and presentations from guest speakers are considered potential material for this examination.

Textbooks
This course draws primarily from research and practices from the fields of Human Resource Management and Organizational Behaviour. Please purchase the package of readings, cases and activities from the university reprography center (MRT 022). This reading package is required and must be purchased directly from the university. This package contains excerpts from textbook chapters, practitioner-oriented articles, case studies and activities. The chapters and articles are essential readings for the course in addition to being handy references for future managerial positions. The cases and activities are required for course participation and we will be working on these in class. You must bring your course pack to every class! Last, you are encouraged to examine the additional readings and references that will be posted in Doc Depot covering key trends and emerging evidence supporting management practices for leading high performance organizations.

Classroom Policy on Supplemental Exams
If you miss an exam due to medical reasons or personal emergencies, it is your responsibility to contact both the professor and the MBA office within 24 hours of missing the exam. You 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.

Classroom Policy on Team Work
Because there is group work to be submitted as part of this course, it is expected that each student will take the time to rate each team member’s contribution to group work during the course. The purpose of this rating is to foster the development of students’ interpersonal skills and to adjust their grades on group deliverables if necessary. Ratings are to be done online at the following web address: http://sites.telfer.uottawa.ca/mbaevaluation. All ratings should be submitted before the end of the course. Each student will be able to compare his/her ratings to the rest of the team and to the rest of the class.

Ratings will be anonymous. However, the course instructor and the program director will know which students provided which ratings. Moreover, a student’s average rating on the last item of the assessment questionnaire will be used to adjust that student’s grades on the course’s group deliverables. Specifically, an average rating between 1.5 and 2.4 will result in a 10% grade reduction. An average rating of 0.5 and 1.4 will result in a 20% reduction. Finally, an average rating of 0.4 or below will result in a 30% reduction. Please note that giving a fellow student a final rating of 2 or below MUST be accompanied by a clear and useful explanation (using behavioral examples). Otherwise, that rating will not be considered.

Classroom Policy on Electronic Equipment
Out of respect for your education, other students, and the instructor, please turn off (or set to vibrate) all cell phones and Blackberries. If you must take a phone call or text a message, please leave the classroom. Note that answering cell phones, texting messages and listening to iPods during any class activity are considered not only unprofessional in the classroom environment but also disruptive to fellow students and to me. Please use laptop computers only for taking notes.

COURSE AGENDA
Week and Topic May 13th Introduction to OB and HRM Organizational Effectiveness: Creating and Maintaining High Performance Organizations Job Performance Class Activities Video: Understanding Southwest Airlines Introductory Case: Indigestion for the Dean Activity: The Power Game • Litksy, Eddleston, & Kidder (2006).The good, the bad, and the misguided: How managers inadvertently encourage deviant behaviors, Academy of Management Perspectives, 20, 91103. • • Course Pack Readings Landy & Conte Module 5.1 (p. 164-167) Bolino & Turnley (2003). Going the extra mile: Cultivating and managing employee citizenship behavior. Academy of Management Executive, 170, 60-73.

May 20th Job Analysis, Competency Modeling, Job Descriptions and
Specifications May 27th Individual Differences Issues of Personality, Abilities, Perception and Values Team Dynamics

Activity: Job Analysis and Job Descriptions

Mathis et al. Redefining jobs and job analysis (p.141-160).

Activity: Personality and Ability Testing

Landy & Conte Modules 3.2, 3.3, skim section on physical abilities and module 3.4 Behling (1998). Employee selection: Will intelligence and conscientiousness do the job? Academy of Management Executive, 12, 77-86.

Video: Cross Functional Dysfunction Activity: Decision making • •

Decision Making June 3rd Employee Selection (Selection Methods and Process)

Video: Selection for the Air Force Case: Hiring a Plant Manager at Dynamo Industries

Belcourt et al. Employee Selection (p. 246-265; 279-283). Recommended Reading: Harvard Pocket Mentor Series: “Hiring an Employee” ISBN 978-1-4221-2582-3

Week and Topic June 10th The Selection Interview

Class Activities Video: Manager’s Hot Seat: The Selection Interview Activity: The Selection Interview. Review Article is Due • •

Course Pack Readings Catano et al. Chapter 9: Interviewing Hackett, Lapierre, & Gardiner (2004). A review of Canadian Human Rights cases involving the employment interview. Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences, 21, 215-228.

June 17th Job Attitudes and Employee Motivation

Activity: Job Satisfaction Case: Rogers Cable

Sari, L. M., & Judge, T.A. (2004). Employee attitudes and job satisfaction. Human Resource Management, 43, 395-407 Cropanzano, R. Bowen, D.E., & Gilliland, S.W. (2007). The management of organizational justice, Academy of Management Perspectives, 21, 35-47. Latham, G.P (2004). The motivational benefits of goal setting, Academy of Management Executive, 18, 126-129. Ordonez, L.D., Schweitzer, M.E., Galinski, A.D., & Bazerman, M.H. (2009).Goals gone wild: The systematic side effects of overprescribing goal setting. Academy of Management Perspectives, 23, 6-16

Rousseau, D. M. (2004). Psychological contracts in the workplace: Understanding the ties that motivate. Academy of Management Executive, 18, 120-127. June 24th Mid-Term Examination st July 1 Canada Day – Class Re-scheduled for Friday July 9th July 8th Managing Compensation, and Total Rewards Orientation, Training and Career Development Video: Compensation at Budget Manager’s Hot Seat: Thawing the Salary Freeze Activity: Design an Orientation and Training Package • Stewart, Belcourt, Bohlander and Snell, Chapter 7: Compensation: Recognizing and Rewarding Employees.

Week and Topic July 9th The Legal Environment

Class Activities Video: Royal Bank Diversity Vignettes Guest Speaker on Human Rights Legislation

Course Pack Readings

July 15th Managing and Appraising Employee Performance Employee Engagement and Withdrawal Managing in a Unionized Environment July 22nd Stress and Work Life Balance and Employee Safety

Case: Performance Appraisal

Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart, Wright, Steen, Chapter 7: Managing employee’s performance. Recommended Readings: Harvard Pocket Mentor Series:” Giving Feedback” ISBN 978-14221-0348-7 and “Performance Appraisal” ISBN 978-1-4221-2883-1

Activity: A Negotiation Exercise

Activity: How Stressed are You? Video: Stress and WellBeing

Spector, P.E. Chapter on Occupational Stress, p. 274-281 Quick, Henley, & Quick (2004). The balancing act – at work and at home. Organizational Dynamics, 33, 426-438. Recommended Readings: Harvard Pocket Mentor Series:” Managing Stress” ISBN 978-14221-1875-7 and “Time Management” ISBN 1422101865

July 29th Organizational Communication and Structure Power, Politics, Ethics, and Corporate Social Responsibility

Activity: Not-so-trivial Communication Game Video: Ethics and Whistle Blowing Video: Manager’s Hot Seat: Let’s Make a Fourth Quarter Deal!

• McShane, Steven L. Canadian Organisational Behaviour. Chapter 11

Week and Topic August 5th Strategic HRM

Class Activities Integrative Case: In Basket Exercise. •

Course Pack Readings Rynes, Brown & Colbert (2002). Seven misconceptions about human resource practices: Research findings versus practitioner beliefs. Academy of Management Executive, 16, 92-103.

Managing in a Global Environment

Activity: A Five Card Game

Project Report is Due Presentations to be made Course Review/Wrap- Up

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; 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 resources, tips and tools for writing papers and assignments: http://web5.uottawa.ca/mcs smc/academicintegrity/home.php 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. Finally, the Telfer School of Management asks that students sign and submit with their deliverables the Personal Ethics Agreement form. Two versions of this form exist: one for individual assignments, and one for group submissions. Assignments will not be accepted or marked if this form is not submitted and signed by all authors of the work. We hope that by making this personal commitment, all students will understand the importance the School places on maintaining the highest standards of academic integrity.