Presents basic concepts of formal organizations. Students become acquainted with the major conceptual models which purport to explain organizational behavior, acquire an understanding of the methods used to study organizations, and analyze research which has been produced. While the emphasis is placed on critical analysis of literature which deals with "what is," attention is given to views about "what should be" in order for people to derive maximum satisfaction and other benefits from organizational activity. Students may not receive credit for both MGMT 511 and MGMT 501.

This course is an advanced introduction to theory, research, and change of strategy of behavior in organizations. Among the most effective ways of learning about human behavior is through the application of theories through group work, discussion, exercises and case studies. Success is most likely in learning situations where there is collaboration, interaction, informality, and mutual respect.

This course enables students to analyze and understand

• The principle theories of behavior in organizations
• The relationship between the theories of individual and group behavior to organizational performance
• A working philosophy of organizational behavior which will enable the student to manage and lead more effectively
• The importance of both written and oral skills

General topics which will be covered in this course include:

• Global Organizational Behavior
• Group Behavior and Process
• Managers and Organizational Behavior
• Motivation and Reward Systems
• Organizational Communication
• Organizational Culture
• Organizational Development and Change
• Stress in the Work Place
• Values, Attitudes and Job Satisfaction

The final exam will be comprehensive, and will posted to WebTycho on an announced date (cf. the course schedule further down). The exam will be open-book and in essay format. The questions will require that a student understand theoretical and applied issues of the course in such a manner that real-life organizational and behavioral scenarios can be analyzed and discussed in an academic manner that indicates a student has mastered the material in our course texts, class discussions and as presented in the course by the instructor. Course schedule

Students will be required to write 2 papers and 1 "internet report" during this course. The following briefly describes their content and scope. Detailed instructions regarding content, writing mechanics, formatting etc., will be discussed in class.

This paper will involve your writing on one of the articles contained in the Ott reader which I will have chosen for you. For your paper (and after you have carefully read the assigned article), you are to formulate what you think are the key aspects of the paper regarding the author's intent and the article's themes. What is its direction? What is the essence of what the author is saying?

In addition to interpreting and analyzing your assigned article, you are also to integrate any applicable information contained in the Robbins text into your argumentation and writing as appropriate. For example, what relevant material in the Robbins book do you find has special significance regarding the Ott reader article you are discussing? Are there aspects of what Robbins mentions about the issues that tend to contradict or support the contentions of the original thoughts of the author(s) of your central paper? For example, Robbins mentions in chapter 6 that you need to consider that various theories take positions ´which don't have equal validity respective to different cultural settings. Might this hold for the Ott-reader article you have been assigned?

In summary, your paper is not to be a review or summary of the article per se, as you might do with a book review. To the contrary: it's your thinking about the issues which interests me. In essence, you are crafting a position paper. Work with the author's argumentation -- and then take a stance!

Length of the paper: about 5-6 pages. In the second class week I will present a sample paper so you can see how this type of paper might look like regarding content, format, style etc. Your first paper will be due before the term break.

Please note: no outside material other than the Robbins text and the Ott reader are to be used for this paper.

In the preparation of this paper, you will access the University of Maryland's library data base in order to retrieve 1 or 2 full-text articles dealing with issues contained in the Ott reader and/or our main text: the Robbins book. Thus, this paper represents your "digging deeper" into the issues, and obtaining more recent information than is contained in the Ott reader and the Robbins text.

Length of the paper: about 5-6 pages. I will present a sample paper in the second week so you can see how such a paper might look like regarding content, format, style etc. Your second paper will be due the beginning of the final class week.

Please note: no outside material other than the Robbins text, the Ott reader and your retrieved full-text articles are to be used for this paper.

This type of report will be a bit less formal than the type of writing expected in the previously described papers. In this assignment, you will be expected to dig up information concerning one of the major chapter sections of he Ott reader. Here, you will need to start off with a theme (let's say two or three really good introductory paragraphs about what topic you are focusing on─and maybe why! For example, you may be interested in group and intergroup behavior (chapter II of the Ott reader), or organizational change (chapter VII of the Ott reader). Those would make fine areas! Then, after outlining your general informational goals and interests (for group and intergroup behavior, for example, maybe you would want to see if any articles have been written in the Internet about the article in the Ott reader called "banana time"; that would make a fine theme!) you are to report on your journey through the Internet looking for supplemental information on those and other relevant issues for your report.

In this assignment you are to visit at least three Internet sites, and give a summary of what you found, your impressions as to the validity and value of the information found, and how it fits within the general themes you started with. Were there discrepancies in information? Have certain issues become more controversial since say, they were written about in the Ott reader? These are some aspects you might choose to write on.

Only one Internet report will be prepared by a student, and will center upon one of the seven chapter issues of the Ott reader: Motivation (I), Group and Intergroup Behavior (II), Leadership (III), Teamwork and Empowerment (IV), Effects of the work environment on individuals (V), Power and influence (VI) or Organizational change (VII). The choice for a theme area is first-come-first-served here, unless everybody picks the same theme area!

Length? Whatever it takes to do the job. Generally, about 3 pages or so has worked out fine in the past. I will be providing you with a sample Internet Report in week three so you can see the format and general idea of such a report. Should be fun! Oh yes: and you'll have to post your report to one of the class conferences so the other students can have that information too. The Internet reports are due on the Monday of the class week of their due dates. So the first IR will be due on the Monday of class week 5 (cf. the schedule). Remember: you only have to do one IR during the course. So if you do the first one, you won't be doing any of the others.

The purpose of this type of a report is to generate class discussion on the issues. Thus, I expect (as has happened in other classes!) that this can be a lot of fun, and will generate a lot of food for thought. It's a lot less formal than regular papers.

Numbers in the Robbins column indicate chapters from that text which will constitute the main in-class discussion theme(s). Numbers in the Ott column designate articles of the Ott book which will form an additional focus of discussion. Additionally, during class week 2 the instructor will post sample papers which will form the "model" for student papers 1 and 2. A similar example paper will be offered during week 3 respective to the Internet report.

2) Your instructor will post an example of an Internet report to the conference this week.

3) Provided everybody hasn't picked your favorite chapter theme (out of the Ott reader; cf. my comments here regarding Internet reports, above), you have a free choice here! Of course, final approval is my privilege!

4) If you haven't chosen a theme yet, or if there was a pile up on some chapter, I'll make the final determination on who does what today.

5) This starts the pattern: Internet Reports are due on the Monday of the assigned week. Only one needs to be done.

6) Please believe in due dates; that's why they are used!

7) Exact time and modality of the exam will be discussed in class.

The following letter grades will be used and will be based upon the percentage of evaluation points received.

The percentage of the final grade is based upon a student's academic and class performance on the various activities. The actual assignment percentages are given in the following table for each class activity.

General participation in class is discussed below in the section dealing with "attendance." Regarding quality of that participation, your input must be more than queries such as "Say, I lost my notes on chapter 3" or, "When does the midterm break start?" In essence, I'll be looking for substantive contribution to class discussions. Thus, frequency and quality of your communication will be graded.

The importance of regular class attendance cannot be overemphasized. Regular attendance for a Distance Education (DE) course isn't quite the same as is the case for traditional face-to-face classes and seminars, but is equally important and, in a sense, much more critical to the ultimate success of a course. As such, and for my DE classes, you are expected to be regularly present for the entire course. This means you have to communicate with the class at least three or more times per week. Of particular importance is your regular attendance during the first three weeks of the course, for in getting started with the class, a lot will be going on during that time: class procedures will be discussed, papers and themes will be assigned, a general shakedown of the WebTycho system will be conducted. Thus, we need all of you, and on a regular basis--particularly during the initial three weeks.

All of the immediate above has dealt with frequency of communication. The quality of your attendance is discussed above concerning "Course participation: General Input" above..

University regulations stipulate that make-up examinations are only required if a student has been absent from testing because of illness or emergency circumstances beyond student control which have to be officially documented. Only in such a case will a make-up examination be possible--and then, in such an instance, a different test than that which was given to the class will be administered. And it will be pure essay with allowable themes/topics being more restricted than is the case with the regular tests.

As outlined in university regulations, the grade of I (incomplete) is only given under exceptional circumstances. "It is given only upon the request of a student whose work in a course has been satisfactory, and who is unable to complete the course because of illness or other circumstances beyond his or her control. In no case will the I be recorded for a student who has not completed the major portion of the work in the course The student must consult with the lecturer and present documentation substantiating the reasons for requesting the complete."

We are discussing academic dishonesty here. Any case of plagiarism regarding class work, term papers, exams or group work may (depending upon the circumstances) result in a total course grade of F(a). To avoid plagiarism, all you have to do is quote your sources correctly, paraphrase correctly--and in all cases, give credit where credit is due regarding sources of your information. Don't pass off information as your own which you have gotten from others! Be warned: I have failed students for plagiarism in the past. This is one area in life where my tolerance is very, very low. And if you think that just changing a word around here and there, or mixing up the order of a couple of sentences is paraphrasing, then think again! I can recommend a text that will help you learn to quote and paraphrase correctly. Check it out--and other information I will be making available to you. (A good book regarding quoting and paraphrasing: Hacker, D. (1997). A pocket style manual (2nd ed.).Boston: Bedford Books. The ISBN number is 0-312-11596-2; many of my students have found this book to be helpful; you may find the book to be helpful too!)

Also: you may not use any work of yours you have completed in any other classes and/or have submitted for credit elsewhere. If you cite your own work done in this class in a previous paper (let's say you want to incorporate some thoughts from paper 1 into paper 2), you may do so provided that that material and all other material used in your paper (including paraphrasing and quoting from all sources) does not exceed 10% of the text length of your new paper (not counting tables, literature listings etc.). In all instances, however, you must either identify such material as a paraphrase or quote via proper referencing. This means quotation marks or indentation, and a referencing to source and page location. Details can be discussed in class.

This course will be using the WebTycho (WT) system which is a special web-based operating system for Distance Education.

What this means is quite simple: If you already have a bit of experience in surfing through the web, you should have no problems working with WebTycho.

John Booth Schleifweg 62, 69126 Heidelberg

Tel: 06221-300 605 (arrange for call via e-mail)

Fax: 06221-300 605 (brief communication only)

e-mail: john.booth@t-online.de (24 hrs a day)