MBA 2nd Sem: Organizational Behavior

(Session Operandi)

AP: Professor Dr. Sanjeev Pradhan

E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: 9851165365

Course Meeting Times and Locations

Fall 2020: Tuesday, 6 - 7:30 am / 7:45 - 9 am

Course Description and Objectives

Although skills in finance, accounting, marketing, operations, and strategy are crucial for organizational
success, the ability to manage an organization, its groups, and its individuals is equally important. In your
careers, you will depend on people to accomplish tasks, goals, and projects; you will need to work for
other people, work with other people, and supervise other people. An understanding of the human side of
management is an essential complement to the technical skills you are learning in other core business
courses. Although we will focus on business organizations, you will find that the course concepts have
valuable applications to other types of organizations, including non-profits, athletic teams, social clubs,
and religious and political groups.

This course is an introduction to the basic concepts and topics in organizational behavior (OB) and
management. The course focuses on OB at three levels: individual, interpersonal, and collective. We will
start at the individual level, covering decision-making, motivation, and personality. We will then turn to
the interpersonal level, covering group, team, conflict and negotiations. Finally, we will move up to the
collective level, covering leadership and organizational context.

The course is designed to accomplish three main goals:

 Increase your knowledge of OB concepts so that you can understand and analyze how organizations
and the people within them work.
 Provide you with opportunities to apply OB concepts to real-world problems faced by managers.
 Develop your leadership and management potential. Effective leaders often manage people and
information to accomplish organizational goals under conditions not entirely in their control.
Leaders must successfully be able to diagnose problems, communicate clearly, make effective
decisions, motivate and influence others, manage diversity, and drive organizational change.

Instructional Methods
To meet these goals, this course uses readings, lectures, exercises, cases, individual and team
assignments, and class discussion. Reading assignments/ Article Review / Videos / Diagnosis Paper /
Story Telling provide an important foundation for class discussion and must be completed prior to each
class session. The due dates for all readings and other assignments are listed in the class schedule at the
end of the syllabus. Lectures will be used to highlight key points from the readings and provide
additional information to supplement the readings. Exercises and cases will provide you with the
opportunity to apply what you have learned to real world issues and

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scenarios. Because each of you brings unique perspectives and experiences to the class, participation in
class discussions and activities is essential to your own learning as well as that of other class members.

Readings
The coursepack is available on Session / Course Plan. A few readings and exercises are not in the
coursepack. These will be handed out in class throughout the semester. It is important that you have
completed the assigned readings thoroughly before class on the day shown in the schedule at the
end of the syllabus. We will not have time to talk about everything covered in the readings in class, so be
sure to email me or ask questions during off hours about anything that you do not understand. You will be
expected to know the assigned readings for the papers and exams.

Assignments and Grading

Your final grade in this course will be based on the following assignments:
 Diagnosis Paper (20%) Week 11
 Group Project Report (20%) Week 21
 Exams (Mid Term/Pre Board) (30%) Week 10/20
 Class Participation/Discipline (15%)
 Attendance (15%)

Each of these assignments is discussed in more detail below.

Diagnosis Paper (20 %): The theories and concepts taught in this course will only contribute to your
business success if you apply what you have learned in the classroom to your everyday experiences. The
objective of the diagnosis paper, due Week 11, is to give you some practice in looking at your life
through an organizational behavior lens. For this assignment, you will reflect on an organizational
problem that you experienced. I use the term “organizational” quite broadly; you can write about an
experience at a summer job, on a sports team, a school work group, or any other situation in which you
worked with other people for the purposes of completing a collective task. Once you have selected an
organizational problem from your past, you should describe and diagnose the problem using concepts
from the course, outline the factors that contributed to the situation, and discuss how the concepts could
have helped you and/or others deal with the situation more effectively. The paper should be between 5
and 8 pages, double-spaced in 12-point Times New Roman font with 1” margins around.

Group Project Report (20 %): The goal of this assignment, due Week 21, is to analyze and apply OB
concepts in a real organization. You will be divided into groups of four to five members. Your group’s
task will be to use concepts from the course to identify, analyze, and develop a plan for resolving a key
problem that an organization is facing.

 Group formation and process: In October, you will fill out preference forms in class, and I will
announce groups during the following week. Each group will be responsible for finding a local
organization to study using interviews, observations, and/or surveys. The organization can be a
business, extracurricular club, athletic team, or other social collective in the Philadelphia area.
During class in October, each group will announce the organization that it will study. Of course,
I would recommend starting the project earlier so that you have adequate time to collect data and
write your report.

 Report guidelines: The report should answer the following questions, using data from
your interviews, observations, and/or surveys to support each answer:
 1) What is the nature of the problem?
2) What are the causes of the problem?
3) How can OB concepts be applied and extended to solve the problem?
4) What specific action steps should the organization take to solve the problem?
What changes should be implemented?
5) What are the potential barriers, obstacles, and challenges to following
your recommendations?
6) What are the risks, costs, and possible unintended consequences of following
your recommendations?
7) How will you communicate your findings to your clients and overcome
potential resistance?

The report should be double-spaced in 12-point Times New Roman font with 1” margins around.
The minimum length is 15 pages and the maximum length is 20 pages. You should include a one-
page executive summary before the introduction, and a letter of approval from a representative of
your client organization. Throughout the report, feel free to use specific references to course
readings and/or lectures to add credence to your diagnoses and recommendations. Also, please let
me know if you would like me to make sample reports from past groups available to you.

 Selecting and working with your client organization: In choosing your organization, you are
welcome to use your friend and family networks, prior work experiences, and campus
affiliations. In the past, students have especially enjoyed this project when they find the
organization fascinating, benefit from its services, or feel strongly committed to its purpose. With
all of the resources available to you, I do not anticipate that any of you will have difficulty
securing a site to do your project, but send me an email, talk to me after class, or drop by office
hours if you run into any problems. I recommend starting the process by generating a list of
possible organizations together. Then, you can work collaboratively to negotiate entry into the
organization, find a liaison to help you gain access to relevant data and employees, diagnose the
problem, write your report, and submit copies of the report to me and your liaison.

 Grading: Your group will receive one grade for the project. However, if multiple members of a
group feel that particular individuals deserve higher or lower grades, I will consider the
possibility of assigning individual grades to that group.

Class Participation (15 %): I believe that the best way to learn, especially about OB, is to actively
participate in your education. In this class, “participation” is defined in terms of quality contributions to
class discussion and exercises. There are four prerequisites for successful participation:

 Be here on time. If you’re not here, you can’t contribute much to class discussion. If you need to
miss class for a predictable reason (job interview, athletic competition), please notify me at least
24 hours in advance so that I can make arrangements for any in-class exercises and so that you
can obtain the materials distributed during the class. I will also appreciate advance notice if you
know that you need to arrive late or leave early on a particular day. Of course, I realize that in
some cases unforeseeable emergencies arise. Although I will not directly penalize you for non-
attendance, be aware that multiple absences will indirectly hurt you by preventing you from
participating in class, thereby lowering your participation grade.
  Be prepared. To contribute to class discussion, you must come to class having carefully prepared
all assignments (i.e., readings, cases, exercises). If you are unsure of the assignments for an
upcoming class session, please ask me.

 Be brave. If you are here and you are prepared, the next step is mustering up the courage to
speak. Everyone in this class is smart, interesting, and has unique life experiences to share. You
will get the most out of this course if you share your thoughts with one another. I expect each of
you to participate fully in all class exercises and to voice your views in class discussions. I also
expect you to ask questions about things that you don’t understand. Although this can be
intimidating, asking questions helps your classmates, as well as you, by moving the discussion
forward in a new direction. If you feel uncomfortable talking in class, please send me an email or
set up an appointment to talk with me early in the semester. I will do everything I can to
accommodate each of your individual circumstances, but I can only do so if they are brought to
my attention.

 Be courteous. The final component of successful participation is treating your classmates in a

respectful and professional manner. Listen carefully to the comments and questions that your
classmates voice. You may learn something new from their perspectives, and you will be able to
avoid simply repeating something that another classmate has said earlier in discussion. Also, it is
perfectly acceptable for you to voice disagreement with an opinion provided by another student;
open debate often leads to the most thoughtful and informative class discussions. However,
please voice your disagreement in a kind and considerate manner. I require that you extend these
courtesies to each other.
Attendance (15 %): 80% Attendance is compulsory. If any students is found absent with no genuine cause
or supporting evidence, he/she will be penalized accordingly.

Policy for Late Assignments

As in the business world, work must be received on time in order to receive full credit. If you are late on
an assignment, your grade on that assignment will be reduced by 25% for each day it is late. You are
always welcome to hand in an assignment before its due date if you know that you will be busy as the due
date approaches. If you think that you will not be able to complete an assignment by the stated due date,
please speak with me in advance to make alternative arrangements. My policy on late assignments will
depend on the specific circumstances surrounding the problem, and thus may differ from student to
student. Providing me with advance notice about a late assignment will minimize the penalty you receive
on that assignment (as compared to providing me with no notice about the problem), but does not
guarantee that there will be no penalty for turning the assignment in late.

Grading
The written assignments (diagnosis paper and group project report) will be graded on five criteria:
 Organization and structure: The paper employs a logical framework and analyzes a critical issue.
 Depth of analysis: The paper demonstrates thorough research. The information is gathered from
appropriate sources and is presented in a persuasive manner.
 Creativity and insight: The material is presented in an original, engaging, and interesting manner.
 Integration with course readings, lectures, and discussions : The paper draws on, applies, and
seeks to extend OB concepts covered in the class.
 Style: The paper is smoothly and professionally written, using appropriate grammar, spelling,
and punctuation.

Academic honesty is expected in this course. Please be aware that plagiarism is a serious violation. With
the exception of the group project, all assignments in this class must be completed independently. If you
have any questions about any of these policies, please let me know.
Feedback and Questions
I am committed to making this course a valuable learning experience for you. After the first month of the
course, we will spend part of a class session evaluating our progress, and I will make any necessary
changes to keep us on track. However, I welcome your feedback regarding the class at any time in the
semester. Also, please feel free to ask questions as they arise. It is easiest to reach me by email or during
off hours, but I am always happy to set up an appointment.

Instructor Biosketch
Dr. Sanjeev Pradhan is Associate Professor of Management with tenure of 20 + years in the University
Colleges. He received his MBA from Jiwaji University, Gwalior, M.P., India. He received his Ph.D. in
Service Branding Strategy from CP University, Kota, Rajasthan. In 2019, he was awarded as an
Academic Leadership in Race 2019 Bangkok Award. He has been honored with the Excellence in
Teaching Award for every class that he has taught in University Colleges, at both the undergraduate and
MBA levels.
Professor Pradhan has published articles in leading National and International Journals, Research Gate
and Academia on management, marketing and e-banking.