Micro & Macro Organisational Behaviour (2235.YR.006713.1)
General information
Type: |
OBL |
Curs: |
1 |
Period: |
S semester |
ECTS Credits: |
5 ECTS |
Teaching Staff:
COURSE CONTRIBUTION TO PROGRAM
The major purpose of the course is to introduce you to some of the traditional as well as innovative topics of research in the micro and macro side of organizational behavior (OB). We have made an effort to incorporate very recent research into the course as well as making sure that you also read some of the more classic work.
Micro-level organizational behavior focuses predominately on individual- and group-level processes and phenomena in organizational contexts. It is rooted primarily in the field of psychology (especially social psychology), in addition to other disciplines, such as sociology, anthropology and political science. In the micro-level part of the course we will focus on some of the key topics in micro organizational behaviour, with the aim of providing you with a a solid foundation to understanding the interplay between individuals, groups and teams in organizations, as well as a critical understanding of applied research in this field.
The macro side of organizational behavior is largely sociological and aims to explain the origins, functioning, and disappearance of the institutional structures that order economic life (organizations, firms, networks, markets, and others). Contemporary perspectives emphasize the interaction between organizations and the environments in which they operate. This part of the course is organized around several topics. These topics draw from several social science disciplines: economics, history, psychology and sociology. These disciplines imply different epistemological and methodological approaches.
The course cannot cover all or even most of the substantive topics in OB. However, it aims to help you to develop a basic undersanding of some of them and how they compete or complement each other. In assessing different theoretical perspectives we will examine the mechanisms operating at the core of each of them. We will identify their scope conditions and their limitations. We will also evaluate the quality of empirical support for the different perspectives. Finally we will attempt to discuss means of strengthening both arguments and evidence.
Course Learning Objectives
The course has two main objectives: First, students will build the skills needed to critique current organizational behavior and research. Second, students will be able to identify promising areas for future research and designing effective means of addressing them.
The aim of this course is thus to equip you with detailed knowledge about various OB concepts and theories, to gain insights into OB research, and to provide you with skills to critically review extant OB research. By the end of this course you will therefore be in a strong position to further explore the field of OB in your own research if you are interested in pursuing this path. And even if you decide against pursuing a research career in OB, this seminar will nonetheless help you be a better researcher in other fields, such as strategy or marketing, since this seminar will encourage you to think critically about research more generally. In other words, the objective of this course is not simply limited to the educated consumption of OB literature. It also aims at contributing to the development of research skills more generally.
CONTENT
1. Unit 1: Macro Organizational Behavior (7 Sessions) |
2. Unit 2: Micro-Organizational Behavior (7 Sessions) |
Relation between Activities and Contents
|
1 |
2 |
| Final Evaluation (Exam and Project) |
|
|
| Continuous Evaluation (Participation, Weekly Assignments, Class Discussion Activities) |
|
|
Methodology
The goal of this course is to prepare you to engage in the central debates in organizational and economic sociology as well as people management As such, it is important that you hone your skills in discussing and critiquing both arguments and evidence. You not only need to understand the arguments, you also need to be able to talk (and write) about them.
ASSESSMENT
ASSESSMENT BREAKDOWN
| Description |
% |
| Final Evaluation (Exam and Project) |
55 |
| Continuous Evaluation (Participation, Weekly Assignments, Class Discussion Activities) |
45 |
Assessment criteria
-Examination (Macro OB Module): based on the content of the readings seen in class as well as class discussions more generally.
-Prep work before each session in the form of a memo (Macro OB Module)
- Session Leader (Micro OB Module). Acting as a session leader: You will act as a session leader for various of our class meetings during the course. The role of the session leader is to be the informal leader
for the discussion, at least in the beginning. This does not mean simply summarizing the readings, but rather being prepared to offer a few questions and comments that hopefully begin a deep discussion of the main issues, strengths, weaknesses, controversies, and gaps in the readings for a particular week.
- Individual assignment and presentation (Micro OB Module) Your Research Idea In-brief. You will be asked to write and present a research idea in-brief. You will also be asked to evaluate your colleagues' proposals. Your job will be to provide a constructive review to each of your classmates. The quality of your revision comments will be taken into account for your grade of this course component.
- Final individual assignment (Micro OB Module) Revise and Resubmit your Research Idea In- Brief presented in the last session of the course. You will be asked to draw from the feedback you received from faculty and colleagues to improve your Research Idea In-Brief.
- Participation (Micro and Macro OB Module)
Bibliography
Robbins, S. and Judge, T. 2012. Organizational Behavior, 15E. International edition. Pearson education.
Bowditch, , J. L. & Buono, A. F. 2008. A Primer on Organizational Behavior. 7th ed. John Wiley and Sons.
Scott, W., G. Davis. 2007. Organizations and organizing: Rational, natural, and open systems perspectives. Prentice Hall.
