On successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

1. Demonstrate a thorough knowledge and understanding of organisational behaviour.

2. Collaboratively and autonomously research, analyse and evaluate information from a wide variety of sources.

3. Apply relevant contemporary theories, concepts and models in order to analyse organisational environments, cases and issues.

4. Communicate their findings clearly and effectively using a variety of media.


Students are expected to:
·      Prepare for all classes by completing the required reading, activities, discussion questions and written reflections as outlined in the activity schedule
·      Attend lectures and actively participate in tutorials
·     Complete all items of assessment in a timely fashion

Course text:

Robbins, S.P., Judge, T.A., Edwards, M., Sandiford, P., Fitzgerald, M., & Hunt, J. (2019) Organisational Behaviour, 9th Edition, Melbourne: Pearson

This text provides the basic framework for the lecture program and is required reading to prepare for the weekly lectures. Please note that the weekly schedule specifies one chapter (occasionally more), to serve as an introduction to the weekly topic. However, as is the case with many textbooks, there is no perfect fit with our schedule; we have only 12 weeks of classes, so some chapters may not be specified in the weekly readings. However, students are advised to familiarise themselves with all chapters from the textbook, during the semester to gain a fuller overview of the very broad subject of organisational behaviour.

An electronic version of this text is available at a substantial discount from the printed version.

In addition, weekly readings (usually a scholarly research journal article) will be specified to enable candidates to prepare for each tutorial. It is essential that all readings and preparation exercises are completed each week. The preparatory readings for lectures and tutorials are an essential part of the learning experience. Remember, lectures will not repeat all the key information from the readings; rather they will build on material from your reading. Therefore, all classes (tutorials and lectures) will assume that everyone is fully prepared and conversant with theories, issues and research introduced in these. If you have any uncertainty or questions about anything you have read please raise this in your tutorials; if you find anything unclear it is likely that other coursemates will do too, so please do not be afraid to ask questions in class.

There are a number of relevant sources that candidates may refer to in addition to the basic required readings. While the list below is by no means comprehensive, some OB texts are listed below:

Bratton, J., Sawchuk, P., Forshaw, C., Callinan, & Corbett (2010), Work And Organisational Behaviour, 2nd Ed., Palgrave.

Finemen, S. (ed) (1993), Emotion In Organisations, Sage, pp 9-35

Fineman, S, Gabriel, Y., Sims, D. (2010), Organising and Organisations, 4th Ed., London: Sage.

Hatch, MJ. & Cunliffe, AL. (2013), Organization Theory, 3rd Ed, Oxford Uni Press.

Huczynski, A. & Buchanan, DA. (2013), Organisational Behaviour, 8th Ed., Pearson.

King, D. & Lawley, S. (2013), Organizational Behaviour, Oxford Uni Press, Oxford

Muchinsky, PM. & Culbertson, SS. (2012), Psychology Applied To Work, 11th Ed., Summerfield, NC:  Hypergraphic Press

Mcshane, SL., Olekalns, M. &Travaglione, T. (2010), Organisational Behaviour on the Pacific Rim, 3rd ed., McGraw-Hill,

Robbins, SP., Judge, TA., Millett, B. & Boyle, M. (2011), Organisational Behaviour 6th Ed., Pearson.

Sarris, A., & Kirby, N. (Eds.) (2013), Organisational Psychology, Research and Professional Practice, Prahran, Vic: Tilde Uni Press

Watson, TJ. (2006), Organising and Managing Work, 2nd Ed., Pearson.

Wilson, FM. (2010), Organisational Behaviour And Work, 3rd Ed, Oxford Uni Press

Wood, J., Zeffane, R.M., Fromholtz, F., Wiesner, R. Morrison, R., Factor, A. & McKeown, T. (2016), Organisational Behaviour Core Concepts and Applications, 4th Australian Edition. Milton Qland: Wiley.


Students are required to read beyond such textbooks to enhance their learning of organisational behaviour. Some additional specific readings will be recommended through the course (eg, tutorial preparation will normally include guided reading). Students are also encouraged to follow up lecture material through references cited in class and textbook bibliographies. Topics of particular interest can be explored further by searching the electronic and printed resources provided by the library. Some relevant academic journals are listed below. Please note, this list is by no means comprehensive and is offered as a launching point for additional readings.

Academy of Management Journal

Academy of Management Perspectives (formerly Academy of Management Review)

Administrative Science Quarterly

Human Relations

Journal of Applied Psychology

Journal of Organizational Behavior

Journal of Management Inquiry

Organization Science

Organization Studies

Work, Employment and Society

The course will utilise MyUni as a communications and assessment tool. Students are expected to visit and actively scan the course MyUni page regularly throughout the semester for announcements and resources that may be posted, including lecture recordings and additional material. MyUni will provide core course guidance, including tutorial activities and occasional lecture replacement activities.

The lectures will be pre-recorded and available from zoom in advance of the tutorials each week. Please ensure you have viewed the lecture before attending the tutorial.

This year most of our tutorials will be face-to face, though there are two online tutorials for remote students only. Please check myuni for details of these; a link will be provided to the online tutorials.

This course is delivered through weekly lectures supported by weekly tutorials. The lectures are intended as an additional and complementary source of theory, application, ideas and critique. They do not replace the need to read the required texts every week. Lecture content is based on the assumption that students are familiar with the key ideas and theories from the weekly textbook readings. Wherever possible lectures seek to enrich our engagement with key topic areas, so may introduce additional theories, ideas and applications rather than repeat textbook content. Many theories and research findings are contested or controversial, so be prepared for some uncertainty or contradictions in this course – this can be uncomfortable for learners, but is an inevitable part of studying human behaviour. We will discuss some of these controversies in lectures and in tutorials.

As explained above, the course learning depends on a combination of reading, lectures/replacement activity and tutorials to provide a more rounded learning experience for all. Thus, tutorials are an essential component of your learning in this course. Students are expected to attend all tutorials regularly and to ensure that they complete the required preparation before coming to class. The communication skills developed in tutorials by regularly and actively participating in discussions are considered to be most important by the School and are highly regarded by employers and professional bodies.

Group work

Groups and teams are a key part of this course’s syllabus – after all we are studying organisational behaviour (how people behave in organisations, which are really just large groups of people). Group experiences and processes are as important to us as the actual outcome of a particular group task, with a particular focus on how you work together as a team made up of individuals with cultural/subcultural influences. Many courses include credit bearing assignments conducted in small group. Although this can expose us to the advantages of group work, it can also have its problems. For example, some groups can be dysfunctional while others can become instrumentally over-focused on ‘marks and grades’.

Theory is enormously helpful when trying to understand any aspect of organisational behaviour and group-work is no exception. You are likely to find the topic’s chapters (groups and teams) in the text book a good place to start and this is also why we deal with the topic early in the course. However, every topic has some relevance here – often this does not become clear until the group experience is well underway, so you might find culture or leadership to be key topics to your group; perhaps reflecting on your own motivation(s) helped you think about your role(s) in the group; conflict between your colleagues might have been particularly challenging; applying learning theory might help reflect on the quality and application of your third assessment criteria for the peer assessment. Whatever the case, the issue of virtual teams is still particularly relevant in 2021. The textbook does briefly discuss this, among other things, suggesting that they can offer an environmentally sound alternative for organisations.

This semester you could consider this with some practical experience of lockdowns, particularly (but not only) in 2020, and IT solutions for formal and informal communication; what was (and is – at least for some of us) the experience like? How far can we manage our group-work in line with medical recommendations for social distancing and organisational arrangements for online learning? What issues do you experience when using technology such as ZOOM, conference calls, ‘Box’ or Googledocs? Most importantly, for us, how can you/did YOU manage your learning and assessment tasks in 2020-21 style virtual (or semi-virtual) groups?

Your tutor will arrange groups for this assignment early in the semester.

Please note. After the groups have been confirmed group members cannot change their groups and nor can a group exclude a group member under any circumstances, without the written agreement of the course coordinator. If any practical or personal problems interfere with your group’s performance at any time during the groupwork, you must immediately contact your tutor and your tutor will help you deal with any such issues. If your tutor cannot solve your issue the course coordinator will be consulted. Late enrolments may require some mutual flexibility, though enrolments are unlikely after week 2.

It is a good idea to hold a meeting with all your group members as early as possible. This would be well spent introducing yourselves and your cultural influences (nationality, family, education, employment, aspirations, learning preferences etc). This will help you better understand any differences within your group and start to frame your group’s culture (actual and ideal). This process requires each member to think about and reflect on themselves as individuals and cultural members AND listen carefully to their group-mates. You could follow this up with weekly post-tutorial meetings to discuss how any group activities ‘worked’ for you (what you learned about the topic, your groupmates and, indeed, yourselves. This will both reinforce your learning and help you prepare more effectively for the individual assignment and examination. You can also keep a record of your groupmates’ contributions each week, to help prepare for the individual reflective assignment.

The information below is provided as a guide to assist students in engaging appropriately with the course requirements.

The University expects full-time students (i.e. those taking 12 units per semester) to devote a total of 48 hours per week to their studies.  This means that you are expected to commit approximately 9 hours for a three-unit course (13 hours for a four-unit course) of private study outside of your regular classes. This time commitment includes reading the relevant text book chapter, preparing for tutorials, on-line activites and assessment tasks.

Tutorial classes will be held weekly commencing week 1, beginning on Monday 27th July. Membership of tutorial classes is to be finalised by the end of the second week of semester. Students wishing to swap between tutorial classes after this time are required to present their case to the course coordinator with the understanding that such a request may not be approved, because of the early group assignment.

Tutorial activities are a central part of the assessment programme (focusing on the Preparation and Participation mark, but also as a key part of the examination preparation), so you are expected to attend and participate in the tutorial programme. Full details of the preparation required for each tutorial will be provided each week in advance. This will normally include some relevant reading and some preparation task; this will involve some initial thinking and reflective writing that you should bring along to each tutorial.


Course Topic schedule

Topic 1: Introduction to organisations and the course.
Robbins et al (2020), ch 1.

Topic 2: Groups and teams in organisations
Robbins et al (2020), ch.8 & 9.

Topic 3: Individual differences
Robbins et al (2020); this is a big topic and includes 3 basic topics (ch. 2, 3 and 4). You are not expected to read all of these to prepare for this topic, so start by focusing on ch 2 and 4, but do ensure that you look through the other chapter at some stage during the semester.

Topic 4: Learning in organisations
This topic isn’t covered as a chapter in our textbook, so we will provide an alternative source (available from myuni) this week:
King, D. & Lawley, S. (2013) Organizational Behaviour, Oxford: Oxford Uni Press, (pp. 304-333). Chapter 10 knowledge and learning.

Topic 5: Culture and organisation
Robbins et al (2020), ch.15.

Topic 6: Politics and conflict in organisations
Robbins et al (2020), ch. 12 and 13.

Topic 7: Leadership.
Robbins et al (2020), ch. 11.

Topic 8: Organising and managing work, communication and feedback
Robbins et al (2020), ch.10.


Mid Semester Break


Topic 9: Emotions in organisations.
Robbins et al (2020), ch. 5.

Topic 10: Organisational change/organising change
Robbins et al (2020), ch 16.

Topic 11: Motivation and orientation in organisations
Robbins et al (2020), ch. 7.

Topic 12: Course review and examination preparation
Robbins et al (2020).

There are no additional specific course requirements

Assessment Task	Task Type	Weighting	Submission	Learning Outcome
Online Quizzes	Individual	10%	as specified on myuni	1
Group Analysis and Contract	Collaborative	5%	Friday Week 4	2,3
Individual reflective written assignment	Individual	20%	Friday Week 8	1,2,3
Group Presentation	Collaborative	15%	During Tutorials Week 10 and 11	1,2,3,4
'Take Home' Examination (open book)	Individual	50%	Thursday 4th November	All
Total		100%

 

To gain a pass for this course, a mark of at least 40% must be obtained in the examination as well as an aggregate total for all assessments of at least 50% overall. 

Students not achieving the minimum exam mark will be awarded no more than 49% for the course.

Please note that to be eligible for Additional Assessment (previously referred to as Supplementary Examinations) in this course ALL required assessment tasks must be submitted.

Please Note: Additional information and guidance will be provided on myuni as appropriate. Marking rubrics will be provided on myuni for the coursework elements.


Online quizzes

There will be 5 fortnightly quizzes on myuni in weeks 3,5,7.9 and 11.

These are designed to give candidates an opportunity to track their learning through the course, with a particular focus on the preparatory reading and lecture content. This focuses on CLO1, though questions do also feed into other course learning outcomes. The questions will be randomly generated on myuni, from a question bank that based on the relevant textbook chapters and lectures for each the preceding weeks (either 3 or 2) covered by each quiz (so the first quiz, in week 3, will relate to weeks 1, 2 and 3, while the quiz in week 5 will refer to weeks 4 and 5 etc).

The quiz marks are equally weighted.



Group Project

As organisational behaviour is about how individuals behave in groups (and how groups behave in organisations), the main focus of the coursework is based on this important aspect of our behaviour. This includes both individual and collaborative (group) work, as a number of different assessment tasks relate to the experience of working within your group. This approach will give you the opportunity to explore an organizational issue from both theoretical and practical perspectives. 

Your tutor will arrange groups for this assignment early in the semester.

Please note. After the groups have been confirmed group members cannot change their groups and nor can a group exclude a group member under any circumstances without the written agreement of the course coordinator. If any practical or personal problems interfere with your group’s performance at any time during the groupwork, you must immediately contact your tutor (do not wait until a few days before any formal deadline) and your tutor will help you deal with any such issues. If your tutor cannot solve your issue the course coordinator will be consulted. Late enrolments may require some mutual flexibility, though enrolments after week 2 may be managed with an alternative form of assessment, so existing groups will not be disadvantaged



Group Analysis, Contract and Plan

It is important that groups should plan carefully for the task facing them. This process is likely to be smoother if everyone knows what they can expect of each other during the task. It is also useful when assessing how well and why the task has been achieved at the end of the exercise. This document can also be used by your tutor if your group experiences any interpersonal problems or conflicts during the semester.

It is likely that your contract/plan will include at least some of the following:

• Group members’ names and contact information (compulsory element).
• Ground rules for group meetings (eg frequency and duration, means of communication, record keeping, expectations of preparation etc).
• The contract should focus on behaviours that are crucial to the group's effectiveness. Perhaps this is the key issue to discuss during the initial stages – how can you identify 4 or 5 key behaviours?
• Assignment of specific tasks and responsibilities and timing (sub-deadlines). These might be itemised and recorded as they are identified and completed.
• Specific methods for dealing with problems within the group (eg unmet expectations or conflict between members).
• A document that each group member should sign, indicating their agreement to the contract (compulsory element).

It is essential to prepare an outline time plan (perhaps in gantt chart form), working back from each formal deadline.

Before the contract/plan can be finalised and agreed it is important to analyse your group at an individual and group level. Your first formal meeting would be well spent introducing yourselves and your cultural influences (nationality, family, education, employment, aspirations, learning preferences etc). This will help you better understand any differences within your group and start to frame your group’s culture (actual and ideal). This process requires each member to think about and reflect on themselves as individuals and cultural members AND listen carefully to their group-mates.

You must support your analysis with appropriate referencing – this requires you to use/apply theory and/or research from any references in some detail. It is not sufficient to simply introduce a source without clearly showing its relevance and contribution to your analysis. Any group analysis that does not include a MINIMUM OF ONE QUALITY RESEARCH REFERENCE (EG JOURNAL ARTICLES), will receive a grade of no more than 50%.

Group contract requirements (word counts indicative only):
Group analysis (using a model relevant to groups or teams from your reading): 500 words
Group contract: 200-250 words
Plan: 4-500 words


 

Group Presentation

Presentations will be conducted in tutorial time (a full schedule will be provided on myuni).

Your presentation must address one of the questions that will be provided during the tutorials. We will run the presentations in your normal tutorial time in weeks 10 and 11. You will have 20 minutes to present your answer. This will require you to explain the question (in your own words) your task and approach to the audience. You should ensure that any theory you draw on is clearly explained and critiqued (all presentations must use and reference at least two quality research sources). This should be followed with any analysis, comparison, critical evaluation, application and/or discussion/debate, leading to a clear conclusion and recommendation(s). You should also allow a few minutes for any questions from the audience.

You should provide some visual aids for your audience (powerpoint presentations are acceptable, but not compulsory – if so, no more than 6 slides should be used, not including title slide and full references).

• As in the examination, the key thing is to present a clear and convincing answer to the specific question; do not simply try to include everything that you know about the topic specified.
• You must pay particular attention to the context of the question – some questions may require you to take on a role (eg a manager) or address your answer to a specific person (perhaps your boss). Most answers may be enhanced with some specific recommendations for action (eg to solve a problem or take advantage of an opportunity), but do follow any instructions carefully.
• Finally, you will need to use relevant theory and/or research to support your answer. Theory is an essential part of university learning; it is also crucial to how we understand the world around us. In order to demonstrate your understanding of theory in this course you must apply (NOT just describe) relevant theory in answers (you can use theory to help understand a phenomenon or to help to frame, explain and justify recommendations).

You must support your analysis with appropriate references. Any presentation that does not use/apply a MINIMUM OF 2 QUALITY RESEARCH REFERENCES (EG JOURNAL ARTICLES), will receive a grade of no more than 50%. If you have any doubts about your sources you should check with your tutor. Please note, student textbooks, unrefereed websites, magazines or newspapers SHOULD NOT be considered quality research references. These may present interesting and relevant opinions and can be included as ADDITIONAL sources, but not as your two quality references.

 
Individual analysis and reflection

Every candidate will submit a written self-analysis and reflection (approx. 1500 words). This is formally linked to the group work that you are engaged in, relating to the presentations. This assignment will be submitted before the scheduled presentations, giving you the opportunity to consider your performance within your group and your progress towards those presentations.

Your analysis should include a critical initial group analysis and your own individual role(s) within and contribution to the group as a whole. A key outcome of this assessment task will be to consider how your learning about key course topics (such as group work; culture, politics) has helped you – and can continue to help you – to improve your performance for the rest of the course, so it is essential to identify personal strengths and weaknesses (perhaps like your own individual SWOT analysis) AND propose specific changes that you can make to your behaviour to become a more effective course participant.

You must draw on relevant organizational theory in your analysis and reflection. All individual submissions must include at least four quality research sources (see lecture one for guidance here).

There is some flexibility to your content and approach. For example, you could focus on the cultural/subcultural differences among your group members and how you managed any differences that did or could have interfered with the smooth running of the group.
A key part of this task is to you could analyse and evaluate your own contribution to the group. This could include examples of working towards group cohesion or specific tasks related to the groupwork. It is essential that you identify any specific challenges you faced and overcame during the planning/operation of the group.

You will need to decide which OB theories are most useful to you, personally. Do not try to include too many topics and theories here – depth of analysis is often preferable to breadth. It is, however, important to try to span the silos of OB in this task. Perhaps you could focus on a small number of experiences, problems or high-points during group work and seek to better understand them by applying relevant theories.

You do need to engage in reflective self-analysis; in particular, how YOU contributed to this your group tasks in tutorials and what YOU learnt as a result and how YOU can apply this learning to improve YOUR performance in the future. This should be presented critically (ie exploring how your learning during the course could contribute to possible interactions with colleagues during the next and final stages of the group work and in future collaborations – especially those that are formally assessed and carry marks that count towards course grades). you are likely to find learning theory and/or theories relating to teamwork particularly useful here, though you can draw from other topic areas as well.

You must support your analysis with appropriate references. Any submission that does not use/apply a MINIMUM OF 4 QUALITY RESEARCH REFERENCES (EG JOURNAL ARTICLES), will receive a grade of no more than 50%. If you have any doubts about your sources you should check with your tutor. Please note, student textbooks, unrefereed websites, magazines or newspapers SHOULD NOT be considered quality research references. These may present interesting and relevant opinions and can be included as ADDITIONAL sources, but not as your four quality references.




Examination

There will be one ‘take-home’ examination at the end of semester 2. This examination will assess all topics covered in OBII, including lectures, tutorial materials, and relevant text book chapters. The examination instructions and questions will be made available through myuni and candidates will have a set amount of time to complete these before submitting answers in the assessment folder.

This is an individual piece of work and, as an open-book task, completely remotely (not in a formal and invigilated examination venue), it is subject to normal UoA coursework regulations (and will be submitted through turnitin software).

More guidance will be discussed in the lectures and posted on MyUni in a timely fashion.



 

Assignment Guidelines including Referencing Details

In preparing any written piece of assessment for your studies it is important to draw on the relevant ‘literature’ to support critical analysis. It is essential to reference the literature used. Correct referencing is important because it identifies the source of the ideas and arguments that you present, and sometimes the source of the actual words you use, and helps to avoid the problem of plagiarism (further information on plagiarism is provided later in this course outline). The Harvard system of referencing is widely used in the Business School. A helpful guide to observing the protocols and conventions of the Harvard referencing style and for writing an executive summary and/or a professional report is ‘The Communication Skills Guide’:
http://www.adelaide.edu.au/professions/current-students/downloads-forms/Communications-Skills-Guide.pdf



Submission

• All submissions for assessment must include an ‘Assignment Cover Sheet’, which is signed and dated by you (and ALL group members for group assessments) before submission. Note that Lecturers can refuse to accept assignments, which do not have a signed acknowledgement of the University’s policy on plagiarism.
• All written assessments should be submitted on myuni, in the assignments folder, as a single word document.
• Only one of your group members should submit ONE copy of the written group work through the myuni link. If more than one version is submitted, only the latest version submitted BEFORE the submission deadline will be marked.
• You must include a list of all your group members on any group-based assignment cover sheets.
• Please retain a copy of all assignments submitted.
• Assessment marks prior to the final exam will be displayed on the course website. Students are encouraged to check their marks and notify their tutor and the Course Coordinator of any discrepancies.



Late Assignment Submission

Students are expected to submit their work by the due date to maintain a fair and equitable system. You should start early on assignments so that foreseeable pressures like work or assessment for other courses does not delay you completing assignments for this course on time. Extensions will generally only be given for medical or other serious reasons. All requests for extensions must be submitted to the Course Coordinator before the due date using the correct university form. Such requests usually require supporting evidence from a social service professional (e.g. doctor, counsellor, psychologist, minister of religion) confirming the circumstances that require an extension. Each request will be assessed on its merits.
Any written work that is submitted late, without prior arrangement, will be penalised at 5% of the potential mark for each day that it is late.



Return of Assignments

Assignments will be marked with written feedback within two (2) weeks of the due date, whenever possible.

In 2020 some students suggested introducing quizzes as a means of testing their learning as the course progresses, so this is being trialed in 2021. A relatively low proportion of marks has been allocated to the quizzes. The other assessment has been streamlined somewhat, to simplify the coursework requirements. The preparation and participation element to allow inclusion of the quizzes and greater emphasis is now placed on the individual reflection.

The 'take-home' approach to examination was a successful development in 2020, so continues in 2021. This approach not only addresses the ongoing challenge of managing examinations at UoA, it is also good practice in giving all students the opportunity to provide the best work possible without unneccesary stresses of impersonal and physically uncomfortable examination conditions.