Motivation and Work Behavior in Contemporary Organizations

Section 001 - Spr 2007

Faculty Information Spring Semester, 2007 Monday evenings, 5:45-9:05 pm CSOM L-118 Instructor: Liz Welsh Office: 3-300b CSOM Email: ewelsh@csom.umn.edu Office Hours: by appointment I am happy to discuss any ideas, questions, thoughts, or concerns you might have. One of the most effective ways to communicate with me is by email. I check frequently and will do my best to respond within 24 hours. If you would like to meet with me, please send me an email and well set up a time that works for both of us. In addition, I will ask the entire class for feedback once during the semester in order to incorporate your thoughts into the class. I would like to thank Professor Glomb for all of her assistance with this course including sharing her materials and syllabus! The course is going to be significantly better because of her assistance. Course Description Welcome to the fascinating world of organizational behavior and motivation! In this course you will learn about the nature of employees and about how human behavior is influenced by individuals, groups, and features of organizations. You will learn about motivation, attitudes, affect and emotions, and see how these human tendencies can be channeled into productive and unproductive behaviors. You will read about how individuals and groups influence and are influenced by the culture, politics, and leadership in an organization. Reading both recent and classic works on these topics will provide exposure to both the foundations of the field and new directions. Course Goals There are two primary goals for this course: Introduce new and advanced research in the areas of organizational behavior. Our discussions will presume that you know the basic organizational behavior theories which were addressed in your introductory OB class. However, to ensure that this is the case, the last 30-45 minutes of each class will be devoted to the introductory topics that are necessary for the next weeks class. 2. Focus on how to apply the theories and academic findings to the real world (evidence-based management). We will accomplish this through self-assessments, journals, and cases/caselets.
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Required Text/Materials
Course packet available in bookstore. Additional readings in additional resource section to get from on-line library.

Grading Distribution
40% 30% 10% 20% Final Project (including evaluation of others final projects) On-line journal Leadership Assessment Class Participation & Attendance

Grading Criteria Final Project Given the immense amount of information available on the topics we are covering, the final project will allow you to explore a topic which is of interest to you and share it with the rest of the class during a poster session on the final night of the course (March 5th). The project consists of two deliverables, a poster and an evaluation of other classmates posters. The poster is a presentation which can be attached to a wall/white board/standing display to share what youve found with your classmates. For this project you first need to choose one of the following three general topic areas: individuals (motivational, job attitudes, affect, behavior, etc.), teams (e.g., processes, composition, etc.), or organizations (leadership,

organizational culture, etc.). We need approximately equal numbers of people covering each subject, so once you decide upon a general topic area, let me know. General topic area choice is first come, first serve - once an area fills up, students will have to choose another topic, so tell me as soon as you know. Second, you then need to identify either a book or a set of journal articles about a specific subject you want to cover within the general area. The only rule of subject choice is that some kind of scientific process/inquiry was followed when the author(s) came up with the findings AND it must have some kind of organizational application. So, a book on leadership which was researched using the case methodology is great, even if it was originally focused on presidents, as long as you can make the link to organizational leadership. However, a book/set of articles on leadership written by a newspaper columnist/supposedly successful leader who pulled together their thoughts on leadership is not all right, even if it can be applied to organizations. You must, by the third week of class, communicate to me your specific topic AND the materials you plan to use to address your topic. Third, you will present your poster on March 5th. (In addition, a copy of your presentation must be turned into me that evening.) Your poster should address: * An overview/summary * A critical assessment of the findings/ideas (pick it apart what makes sense, what doesnt; what did they miss, etc.) * A way that individuals could use what was found in their everyday, organizational life (application of the material) Posters are generally quite detailed written presentations that allow participants to understand the concept without any verbal interaction. In other words the written presentation should be able to stand on its own without commentary from you. Hopefully, during the sessions you will have numerous discussions that build off of the presentations, but you will not need to be prepared to present it. However, this requires a higher standard of the author - you must develop written presentations which are detailed and comprehensible. For the evaluation, you need to evaluate at least five other posters and, at a minimum address the following questions: Which did you find the most compelling and why? and, How might you apply each of the five to the real world? This should be turned in by March 9th either via email or hard copy in my mailbox. On-line Journal In order to facilitate the course goal of applying organizational research to real organizational behavior, every week you should write approximately 400 words about what you learned in class and through the readings, and how you might apply them in the real world (specific situations youve had in the past, potential situations you can envision, overall philosophy of approaching interactions, etc.). I expect you to journal five of the six subject sessions we cover (i.e., you get to skip one week). Please, complete your postings by 9 am the Monday after the class in question. (For example, if you want to think about/write about the first week, please, have it posted by January 29th at 9 am). Each weeks journal will be worth 6 points and will be graded on thoughtfulness, understanding of the material, timeliness, organization and originality. Postings will be accepted late with a penalty of one point for every day or part of a day they are late. Leadership Assessment The leadership assessment will follow the process described in the article How to Play to Your Strengths and will be due on February 19th in class. We will do an abridged version of it the assessment in order to get a feeling for it without becoming overly burdensome. Therefore, please ask for feedback from at least four people (preferably two who know you primarily personally and two who have worked with you in some significant capacity) using the methodology described. Use the feedback for steps two through four of the process. On February 19th you need to turn in a memo describing what you found out about yourself (referencing the patterns and self-portrait), what an ideal job would look like for you and what you thought about the process (e.g., would you ever use it with employees you were working with, did you learn anything from it, etc.). The memo should be two pages or less, SINGLE-SPACED. You are welcome to comment on this experience as part of your journal entry for the leadership week. Participation and Attendance Your participation grade will be based on your active participation in class. You will start with a B in participation (17/20 points), losing points for excessive absenses (more than 1) and gaining points for participation. Participation is more than just asking and responding to questionsit also includes evidence of preparation for class and active participation in discussions. Our classes will include discussions, activities, and cases. You will be expected to come prepared and to be actively involved in the class. Active involvement not only means participating yourself, but also

attempting to solicit the viewpoints of others so that you can learn about different ideas and perspectives. For each class you should be prepared to summarize or talk about a reading that has been assigned, having completed any mini-assignments which were given, to answer questions posed by other students, etc. Academic Policies
MAHRIR Policy The Carlson School defines academic misconduct as any act by a student that misrepresents the student's own academic work or that compromises the academic work of another. Scholastic misconduct includes (but is not limited to) cheating on assignments or examinations, plagiarizing, i.e., misrepresenting as one's own work any work done by another, submitting the same paper, or substantially similar papers, to meet the requirement of more than one course without the approval and consent of the instructors concerned, or sabotaging another's work. Within this general definition, however, instructors determine what constitutes academic misconduct in the courses they teach. Students found guilty of academic misconduct face penalties ranging from lowering of the course grade or awarding a grade of F or N for the entire course, to suspension from the University. University Policy on Academic Misconduct

Accommodations for Students with Disabilities

The University of Minnesota is committed to providing all students equal access to learning opportunities. Disability Services is the campus office that works with students who have disabilities to provide and/or arrange reasonable accommodations. Students registered with Disability Services, who have a letter requesting accommodations, are encouraged to contact the instructor early in the semester. Students who have, or think they may have, a disability (e.g. psychiatric, attentional, learning, vision, hearing, physical, or systemic), are invited to contact Disability Services for a confidential discussion at 612-626-1333 (V/TTY) or at ds@umn.edu. Additional information is available at the DS website http://ds.umn.edu .

Course Schedule Please note the word TENTATIVE in the Tentative Course Schedule below. We need to be somewhat flexible in our scheduling, as things may come up along the way that we need to accommodate. However, we will try to anticipate these as we go and stick to the schedule as much as possible. Because our class activities and discussions are dependent on the readings, you are expected to read the materials assigned before they are discussed in class. Your success in this course depends partly on your attendance and participation in class. . Session 1 January 22 Session 2 January 29 Overview and Introduction Is There Such a Thing as Evidence-Based Management (Rousseau) The Need for and Meaning of Positive Organizational Behavior (Luthans) Motivation & Persuasion Motivation a Diagnostic Approach (Nadler & Lawler)CP Harnessing the Science of Persuasion (Cialdini) CP Six Dangerous Myths About Pay (Pfeffer) CP Handouts (to be handed out in class) Job Sculpting: The Art of Retaining Your Best People (Butler & Waldrop) How to Motivate Your Problem People (Nicholson) Managing Middlescence (Morison, Erickson & Dychtwald) Coaching the Alpha Male (Ludeman & Erlandson) Motivating the Survivors of a Downsizing Linking Job Attitudes, Affect, & Behaviors Theories and Research on Job Satisfaction (Fritzsche & Parrish) CP Organizational Psychology and the Pursuit of the Happy Productive Worker (Staw) Linking Work Events, Affective States, and Attitudes: An Empirical Study of Managers Emotions (Mignonac & Herrbach) Business-unit-level relationship between employee satisfaction, employee engagement, and business outcomes: A meta-analysis (Harter, Schmidt, & Hayes) Leadership What Do Leaders Really Do (Kotter) CP The Work of Leadership (Heifetz & Laurie) CP How to Play to Your Strengths (Roberts, Spreitzer, Dutton, Quinn, Heaphy & Barker)CP Handouts(to be handed out in class) Leadership Run Amok: The Destructive Potential of Overachievers (Spreier, Fontaine & Malloy) Primal Leadership: The Hidden Driver of Great Performance (Goleman, Boyatzis & McKee) Narcissistic Leaders: The Incredible Pros, the Inevitable Cons (Maccoby) Level 5 Leadership: The Triumph of Humility and Fierce Resolve (Collins) Group Processes, Teamwork, and Social Influences (Power, Influence, Conformity)

Session 3 February 5

Session 4 February 12

Session 5

February 19

The Discipline of Teams (Katzenbach & Smith) CP Managing Multicultural Teams (Brett, Behfar & Kern) CP Can Absence Make a Team Grow Stronger? (Majchrzak, Malhotra, Stamps & Lipnack)
CP

Session 6 February 26

Due: Leadership Assessment Case: The Leo Burnett Company Ltd.: Virtual Team Management CP . Organizational Culture Corporations, Culture and Commitment: Motivation and Social Control in Organizations, (OReilly) Five Conditions for High-Performance Cultures (Juechter et al.) The Six Levers for Managing Organizational Culture (Young) Case: GE Case CP . Poster Session * Organization (Leadership) * Teams * Individuals

Session 7 March 5

5:45-6:45 6:50-7:50 7:55-8:55

Due: Poster Materials Due: Evaluation of Others Posters (March 9th) . CP = Found in Course Packet See Resources for links to other non-handout articles