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pad 5010: organizational behavior

Dr. Michael Hawthorne
Department of Public Administration
Business Administration Building
Voice: 910.521.6660
E-mail: michael.hawthorne@uncp.edu
Office hours: by appointment

This course introduces students to the study and management of organizations, their internal operations, and their interaction with the environment.  It is tempting to begin our discussion by raising questions about organizational behavior, such as why we often feel frustrated within and dealing with organizations.  We would then note that people have observed organizations and developed answers to these questions, and the course will explore these answers.  We risk in this approach, however, creating an impression that we can easily describe behavior and improve upon it.  Directing organizations is challenging, understanding how they operate even more challenging, and determining how best to structure and manage is amazingly challenging.  One need only take note of the huge number of badly and ineptly behaving organizations as clear evidence not everyone figures this all out. 

Not surprisingly, this course suggests we can learn about organizations, determine likely productive actions and behaviors, and improve organizational results.  We will study many different aspects of organizations and their behavior, and attempt to learn what might be the best ways to organize and manage.  We do so by reviewing organizational studies, learning from them and applying these ideas to other organizations.  Our focus is on public organizations, but one of our concerns will be determining whether public organizations are identical to all other organizations or are distinct in important ways.  You will become familiar with a literature on organizational behavior, and have many opportunities to apply this knowledge to examples and situations.  In the process, you will become a more careful observer, more analytical, and better able to translate broad understanding into action.  The result, we hope, is to make you a better manager, and a more knowledgeable leader.

The course has other objectives.  One is to improve your base of educational skills necessary to your future graduate course work. We want to enhance your skills in processing information, communicating ideas to others, and synthesizing ideas from multiple sources to gain new insights.  We also want to develop your abilities to work within groups, developing and commenting on shared ideas, and learning how to assist others to go beyond their current abilities and results to produce better final products.  As you are learning about organizations, you are also learning how to work within organizations and draw the best out of your people.

We will use a core text, with a supplemental reader.  Each week, we will explore a topic or set of related topics involving organizational behavior.  It is imperative you complete the reading before each class meeting.  The purpose of our class meetings is NOT to have the material read to you, but to explore the validity of what you have read, the consequences of the arguments, and consider the implications from your perspective as a manager.  The class will operate as a seminar, meaning I do not lecture to you, but help you explore your thinking stimulated by the readings.  If you do not intend to complete the course readings in a timely fashion, you will be very frustrated by this class.

To encourage your thinking about this material, you will write several short papers during the semester.  You will share your papers across the class or within groups, and your classmates will play an integral (even substantial) role in evaluating your work.  (Fear not, we evaluate the evaluations!)   These papers will be brief, generally a page or two, with due dates spread across the semester.  I expect excellent writing, with tight organization and important ideas presented in a clear fashion.  Thus, do not even think that a first draft will suffice!  We will work on developing these presentations throughout the semester, so early difficulties, although not encouraged, are not fatal to your performance, so long as you address them in subsequent work.  Paper topics will come from either the core text, or supplemental readings.  Recognize that the course scheduling builds around these readings, so you MUST submit papers in a timely fashion.  In other words, especially in a graduate class, we complete work on time and without excuses.  We will discuss detailed format and paper guidelines during our first classes.

For those of you just starting your graduate education, or in your first semesters of graduate course work, welcome to an exciting and challenging experience.  Graduate courses are not (and should not) be like undergraduate classes; therefore we will spend time preparing you for graduate-level work.  If you enter class prepared to work hard, expect a very different approach to education than you likely experienced as an undergraduate, and willing to challenge thinking (and have your thinking challenged), you will find graduate school to be one of the greatest experiences of your life.  If you decide that you need not learn anything new, and you cannot be bothered to prepare for class, and expect to do little or no work, your graduate career will be brief.

Grades

Grades will be assigned based upon the following weights:

• Papers and evaluations -- 50%
• Midterm -- 15%
• Final -- 20%
• Participation -- 15%

Learning is a challenging, serious, and fun process.  To facilitate this process and help you learn, I need you in class.   In a seminar, attendance is crucial.  In this class, you are allowed three absences for whatever reasons you deem proper and/or necessary; you need not bring "an excuse" upon your return, as you will decide when you should and should not attend..  Upon the fourth absence, you will receive a zero for all remaining assignments.  You are strongly advised to use you absences wisely, as you will not be given "extra" absences when you have a "real problem" after having used up your absences for other reasons.  Major health and family issues necessitating absences longer than this time period will be considered only with documentation, and should include consideration of dropping the course due to the absences.

Any student with a documented disability needing academic adjustments is requested to speak directly to Disability Support Services and the instructor, as early in the semester (preferably within the first week) as possible. All discussions will remain confidential. Please contact Disability Support Services, DF Lowry Building, 910-521-6695.

Responsibilities

As a faculty member, I am responsible for creating the best possible class to teach you about American government and politics. As a student, you have responsibilities. Most of these should be common to all classes, but to avoid any confusion, a list appears below.

• You must recognize the attendance rules for the class.  You are expected to arrive on time, and if you are not present when attendance is taken, your subsequent arrival will NOT change your status unless you have prior approval from me.
  
• When you attend class, you remain for the entire class.  Students will not be given permission to leave early except in the most unusual circumstances.
• Do not leave class during the class period unless you are experiencing a significant medical problem or when we are taking a class break.  Feeling you just need to get up and move around and take a quick trip to the bathroom does NOT constitute a significant medical problem.  Students will NOT be allowed to leave class during an exam.
• You need to complete class readings on time if you are to understand and contribute to class discussions.
  
• The classroom is a place for learning and discussing. Students engaging in rude, inconsiderate, and unnecessary behavior disrupt these activities. Eating, passing notebooks and notes, private conversations, reading non-class materials, leaving during class, arriving after class has started, etc. are disruptive behaviors. Therefore, I will penalize students engaging in disruptive behavior after an initial warning. 
• No cell phones or music replay devices should be operating or visible during class. Recorders are allowed only with my permission. Students displaying any part of these devices during class without the instructor's permission will be asked to leave class and counted as absent.
  
• As you read and prepare for class, think about what you are reading, and what you already know; be prepared to bring questions, comments, reactions to class, rather than sitting passively waiting to be told what you should know.
  
• Take advantage of office hours to have questions answered, learn how to explore topics in greater depth, and to clarify assignments and requirements. The purpose of office hours is to eliminate the "didn't understand something" or “I don't know how to do this” problem that can occur in class, but that will require you to take the initiative and stop in during hours or arrange an appointment. I will do all I can to help, but you must let me know when you need help. However, remember that office hours are not intended to allow you to skip class, and then stop in to find out what we discussed while you were "busy" with other matters.   
• Electronic mail is a great way to ask questions as they occur to you. I will try to check my e-mail frequently, and you should feel free to use e-mail to ask questions, pursue additional information on topics, or even to request that we spend some additional time in class on some topic. Other uses for e-mail, including communication among the entire class, will be discussed early in the semester.
  
• All assignments should be completed on time and submitted no later than the due dates; late assignments are penalized. You should turn in all assignments electronically through the Drop Box or through group postings in Blackboard. If you do not know how to submit papers through the Drop Box, it is YOUR responsibility to learn!
  
• Exam dates are not "suggested" -- those are the days exams will be given. NO MAKE-UP EXAMS WILL BE GIVEN! You must notify me before the exam and provide me with written documentation explaining the extraordinary circumstances (such as hospitalization or death in family) that justifies your absence from the exam. This does not mean a note you or your friend wrote restating your absence! All documents must be provided within one week of the scheduled exam date. Students making such a claim for a second time during a semester will be denied.
  
• In the event of a missed exam, if you properly notified me about the absence, you will be required to complete a research paper. I will determine the  paper's topic, length, format, and due date. Failure to meet all specifications will result in a zero for the missed exam grade. If you complete the paper by the due date, I will entertain shifting some of the final grade weight assigned to the missed exam onto the other exams. The paper may serve as the grade for some of the remaining weight assigned to the missed exam. In no case will the reassigned weight equal the missed exam weight (a penalty for missing!). I will solely determine the specifics of all paper-related matters, re-weighting and assignment of grades, etc. Failure to meet any deadlines for notification or completing tasks related to these assignments will result in a zero for a grade.
  
• Pay attention to the Academic Honesty statement following this section. ANY violation of the code, including plagiarism in a paper, will be punished by assigning a zero for the assignment containing the plagiarism; all remaining assignments in the course will be given an automatic zero. IF YOU DO NOT KNOW HOW TO PROPERLY CITE MATERIAL IN PAPERS, seek help on campus or consult one of the many sources available on citing material for papers. You are a college student, and have been (or should have been) taught how to write papers properly, so a plea of ignorance regarding citation rules will not allow you to escape punishment.
  
• View the class as an opportunity to learn, engage in stimulating analysis, and exchange ideas with other thoughtful individuals. Treating class as a chore, and treating learning as a burden, isn't nearly as cool as friends make it out to be.

Class participation (and attendance) is crucial to learning. These will play a key role in grades for those on borderlines. Improvement during the semester is always given special consideration.

Academic Honesty

Student Academic Honor Code: Students have the responsibility to know and observe the UNCP Academic Honor Code.  All students should review the Academic Honor Code carefully.  This can be found at:

• View Academic Policies (html | PDF - requires Adobe Reader)

with particular attention to pages 65-69.  Violations of the Code will be reported and pursued with extreme vigor.  If you do not understand any part of the Code, it is your responsibility to seek answers to your questions and concerns. 

Reading Assignments

The assigned texts are:

• Natemeyer, Walter E. and McMahon, J. Timothy.  2001.  Classics of Organizational Behavior.  3rd edition.  Waveland Press. (Referred to below as Classics)
• Rainey, Hal G.  2003.  Understanding & Managing Public Organizations.  3rd edition.  Jossey-Bass.  (Referred to below as Rainey)

Please note: Reading assignments should be completed before date listed here! Read any introductory sections, examples, etc.

Class date	Reading assignment
Aug. 26	Introduction to class
Sep. 2	What we know about organizations -- Rainey, Ch. 1, 2; Classics, 1.1, 1.3
Sep. 9	Are public organizations distinct from other organizations -- Rainey, Ch. 3; Classics 1.4; 5.2
Sep. 16	Organizational environments -- Rainey, Ch. 4; Classics 5.3, 5.5
Sep. 23	Organizational politics -- Rainey, Ch. 5; Classics 1.2
Sep. 30	Organizational goals and effectiveness -- Rainey, Ch. 6
Oct. 7	Organizational power and decision-making -- Rainey, Ch. 7 MIDTERM EXAM
Oct. 14	Organizational structures -- Rainey, Ch. 8
Oct. 21	People in organizations -- Rainey, Ch. 9, 10; Classics 2.1, 4.3
Oct. 28	Organizational leadership -- Rainey, Ch. 11; Classics 5.1
Nov. 4	Organizational teamwork -- Rainey, Ch. 12; Classics 3.5
Nov. 11	Organizational change -- Rainey, Ch. 13
Nov. 18	TBA
Nov. 25	TBA -- Thanksgiving
Dec. 2	Conclusions -- Rainey, Ch. 14; Classics 6.4
	FINAL EXAM --Tue., Dec. 9, 6:30 pm

 

Updated: Thursday, January 31, 2013

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