MGMT206-21S1 (C) Semester One 2021

Organisational Behaviour

15 points

Details:
Start Date: Monday, 22 February 2021
End Date: Sunday, 27 June 2021
Withdrawal Dates
Last Day to withdraw from this course:
  • Without financial penalty (full fee refund): Sunday, 7 March 2021
  • Without academic penalty (including no fee refund): Friday, 14 May 2021

Description

This course provides an introduction to the study of individual and group behaviour in organisations. The course is taught in two parts. In the first part we examine individual-level topics such as personality differences; perception and learning in organisations; workplace emotions, theories of motivation; and stress management. We then move on to discuss team and organisational-level processes, including decision-making; group dynamics and teamwork; communication; power and conflict management; organisational structure and design; organisational culture; and organisational change.

This course is an introduction to organizational behavior theories and practices. Generally, the field of OB responds to questions of why people behave as they do in organisational settings. The goal is to come out of this course with a practical understanding of traditional management concepts such as organizational structure, communication, culture, motivation, leadership, and teams.

Workload
Lectures and online sessions 24
Preparation for lectures 24
Independent research and reading 24
Preparation for test and test taking 40
Assignments 38
Total 150 hours

Learning Outcomes

1. Correctly apply organisational behaviour principles,  concepts and theories and the findings from organisational studies research to understand individual/group/organisational issues.

2. Analyse and critically evaluate human behaviour in the context of an organisational setting.

All pieces of assessment require you to understand and apply OB principles, concepts and theories.


BCom Graduate Profile
MGMT206 addresses the BCom learning goals in the following manner:

1. Graduates can demonstrate advanced knowledge of Organisational Behaviour informed by the broader context of commerce.

The assessments for this course provide you with an opportunity to demonstrate the application of advanced knowledge of Organisational behaviour, in particular individual differences and perception, attitudes and values, motivation, stress management, communication, teamwork and group dynamics, conflict management, leadership, power, and organisational culture.

2. Graduates are able to use analytical thinking and problem-solving skills to address specific problems.

The exercises we do in class sessions require the use of analytical skills in interpreting your own and others’ behaviour.  The simulations/exercises/case studies we work on in class time allow you to apply problem-solving skills to understand behavioural dynamics.

3. Graduates can understand issues from a range of ethical, global, and multicultural perspectives.

We do not specifically address multiculturalism in this course, although we do look at individual differences and perception which is the foundation for understanding diversity and ethical issues.

4. Graduates are able to communicate effectively both orally and in written form.

All assessment in this course is written. Verbal communication is not formally assessed in this course but will be necessary in class sessions.

University Graduate Attributes

This course will provide students with an opportunity to develop the Graduate Attributes specified below:

Critically competent in a core academic discipline of their award

Students know and can critically evaluate and, where applicable, apply this knowledge to topics/issues within their majoring subject.

Employable, innovative and enterprising

Students will develop key skills and attributes sought by employers that can be used in a range of applications.

Prerequisites

(1) MGMT100; and (2) A further 45 points

Restrictions

MGMT201, MGMT216

Equivalent Courses

MGMT216

Course Coordinator / Lecturer

Colleen Mills

Tutor: Kseniia Zahrai

Assessment

Assessment Due Date Percentage  Description
Written Assignment 1 - Guided Reflection 19 Mar 2021 10% Written Assignment 1 - Guided Reflection
Class Test 1 28 Apr 2021 30% Class Test 1 (Lectures weeks 1-6)
Written Assignment 2 21 May 2021 20% Written Assignment 2
Class Test 2 02 Jun 2021 40% Class Test 2 (Mainly content covered in weeks 8-12)


Written Assignment 1 - Guided Reflection
Date: 19 March Weighting: 10%

The assignment requires each student to individually reflect on what they have learnt from face-to-face and digital lectures in weeks 1-3. Students are asked to answer the following questions:
I. Which concepts covered in lectures 1-3 stand out to you as being the most useful for understanding organisations and what people do in them?
II. Explain why you chose each concept?
III. Explain how you are using the textbook, slides and any additional notes we provide. How do these reflect your personality and learning style?
IV. Identify any barriers to your learning that you have encountered in MGMT206 so far. How are you managing them?
V. Where could you apply what you have learnt so far in MGMT206 (Lectures 1-3)

Submission: Submitted on Learn before midnight.


Class Test 1 (online)
Date: 28 April, online Weighting: 30%

The test will consist of multiple-choice questions, and short answer questions related to both face-to-face and digital lecture material from lectures 1-6. Further information will be provided online.


Written Assignment 2
Date: 21 May Weighting: 20%

Word limit: 2000 words. This is limit, not a target. A quality assignment could be completed in fewer than 2000 words. The word count includes citations and references. These must be formatted using APA style (Edition 7)

Submission: Submitted via Learn before midnight

For this assignment you will be required to describe and interpret behaviour you observe. You need to have behaviour you can view more than once. Select one event or instance of organisational behaviour (OB) from online videos of people interacting in their work organisations or in their sports or religious organisations.

You will write (1) a description and (2) then interpret the event or instance you have chosen.

Undoubtedly there will be interconnectedness in your observations (e.g. if you observe conflict, other OB concepts will also be relevant to your discussion such as personality differences and power). This is expected and you should detail those interconnections in your assignment – the quality of this interpretation is what will help you achieve higher marks.

The assignment will be graded on how well you describe the OB you observed, the relevance of the OB concepts and theories you chose as tools to interpret this OB, and how well you apply these concepts and theories to interpret the observed behaviour.


Class Test 2 (online)
Date: 2 June Weighting: 40%

The test will consist of short answer questions related to both face-to-face and digital lecture material from all lectures but mainly those given in weeks 8-12. Further information will be provided online.


Grading and Extensions
The various pieces of assessment may be scaled to determine a final grade and 50% should not be regarded as a pass mark.

There will be NO EXTENSIONS given in this course. It is your responsibility to plan your course of study so that even in the event of unforeseen circumstances your assignment can be delivered by the due date.

The only valid excuse for a late or non-submission of an assignment is a family or medical emergency. You must have documented proof of the emergency and contact the Course Coordinator by email.

Please note that computer problems are not valid excuses for non-submission of assessment.


Submitting Assignments
Submit your ‘OB Observations’ written assignments on Learn. No hard copies are required.

For quality assurance purposes the College is required to hold on record a number of assignments as examples of differing standards of work.  If you have any objections to the College holding your assignment for this purpose then email the course coordinator to ensure your assignment is not used for this purpose.

Textbooks / Resources

Required Texts

McShane, Steven Lattimore et al; Organisational behaviour :emerging knowledge, global insights ; 6e; McGraw-Hill Education Australia, 2019.

IMPORTANT:  The primary sources of course content in MGMT206 are the digital  and face-to-face lectures and the textbook. The textbook supports the lectures by providing explanations and illustrations of lecture content. Engagement with digital and face-t-face lectures is very important. These will determine the topic addressed in the assessment items. The textbook provides further information to assist your understanding and allow you to answer questions well.

Notes

Class Representative
A class representative may be asked to volunteer in the first few weeks of class. Any problems with the course can be raised with the class rep. Their email can be found at UCSA. The class representative will take up any issues raised by class members with the lecturer concerned as they occur.

Departmental Academic Policies
A summary of Departmental academic policies on course grading, special considerations, etc. is available under: https://www.canterbury.ac.nz/business/departments/. The Department assumes that you have read this document.

You should also read the following:
• UC Business School Student Handbook on the UC Business School Students Learn page https://learn.canterbury.ac.nz/course/view.php?id=7744
General Course and Examination Regulations http://www.canterbury.ac.nz/regulations/general/general_regs_enrolment_courses.shtml

Dishonest Practice
The University of Canterbury considers cheating and plagiarism to be serious acts of dishonesty. All assessed work must be your own individual work unless specifically stated otherwise in the assessment guidelines. Material quoted from any other source must be clearly acknowledged. You must not copy the work of another person (student or published work) in any assessment including examinations, tests and assignments. Any person, who is found to have copied someone else's work, or to have allowed their work to be copied, will receive a fail grade for that piece of assessment and may face disciplinary action which may lead to a fine, community service or exclusion from the university.

IMPORTANT: Where there are concerns regarding the authorship of written course work, a student can be required to provide a formal, oral explanation of the content of their work.

Citations and referencing

Indicative Fees

Domestic fee $831.00

International fee $3,875.00

* All fees are inclusive of NZ GST or any equivalent overseas tax, and do not include any programme level discount or additional course-related expenses.

For further information see Management, Marketing and Tourism .

All MGMT206 Occurrences

  • MGMT206-21S1 (C) Semester One 2021