organizational behavior

Unofficial Title: Leadership for the New Century!

Study Coordinator - John F. Hulpke 2358 7736 hulpke@ust.hk Instructional Assistant: Jade Yang 2358 6296 or jade@ust.hk Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Fall 2007 L7: LT K Mondays & Wednesdays 14:00-15:20 L8: LT K Mondays & Wednesdays 15:30-16:50
Organizational Behavior [essentials], McShane/Von Glinow, McGraw-Hill 2007 (yes, you need the text) What is an organization? Do people behave differently in organizations than when acting as individuals? How? You will leave the course with an appreciation of the fact that we live in an organizational world - you will spend the rest of your lives involved with organizations. All types of complex systems -- businesses, schools, hospitals, government agencies, voluntary organizations -- need smart, skillful, knowledgeable people. Some organizations are well managed. Others are not. Some organizations seem to have a good "fit" with their political, social, and economic environment. Others do not. Some change when the situation requires. Others don't. We'll look for behaviors that contribute to success. By the end of this course, you should be able to: Discuss the universality of management: its needed everywhere Describe roles individuals and groups play in organizations Describe specific examples of well managed organizations and examples of not well managed organizations Describe processes of planning and decision making Describe the significance of leaders, using real examples Discuss individual factors in organizational success (motivating, deciding) Discuss key group factors in success (communication, leadership, power) Discuss organizational design, past, present, future Discuss organizational culture and change with specific examples This course covers almost the entire discipline referred to as management. This course should lay a good foundation. Work hard here and you will find other business courses and your life in real organizations easier! In Hulpke's MGTO 121 THERE IS LOTS OF WORK but YOU LEARN A LOT! And not just about Organizational Behavior. You will learn facts and trends about business by studying the text, participating in lectures etc. But in this class you will also think of NEW IDEAS. In lectures, but more so in our TAPPS exercises, and STILL MORE in your short paper and our Picturing Organizational Culture project, you will think of things in new ways. Your short paper is NOT from the library or the web, they are from what you observe yourself! You need to learn how to learn from LIFE, and this course will give you practice. How about ANALYTICAL SKILLS and CRITICAL THINKING? In exams we will have essays too. We will NOT just ask you to memorize! You will THINK! Same in the picturing culture project, in TAPPS exercises, etc! Plus you will learn how TEAMS work (or how they do NOT work, also a good lesson!) You will be busy every day and studying every night. You are doing this because the future belongs to those who are prepared! CONGRATULATIONS. In this case success will mean two things: you will complete MGTO 121 AND more importantly, you will learn.

How to contact us: You are welcome to drop by or make an appointment to see me. The best way is probably email: hulpke@ust.hk My office: room 5473, lifts 25-26. If I'm not in, check the other office the university provided, good for discussion: Room 1501. Or call me at 2358 7736 (office). My mobile is 6204 6969. My email is hulpke@ust.hk Or contact Jade, room 2374, phone 2358 6296, or e-mail, jade@ust.hk . She can help too. We both check email all day and all night! (almost). And check the course webpage. It is (probably) at http://lmes2.ust.hk Thoughts about Teaching, and Learning: According to research and press reports, Asian students learn somewhat differently than American students and prefer teachers who appreciate Asian cultures. This course is taught by an American who knows little about the inner workings of the Asian Mind. Good luck! But it is not all bad: it may be helpful to you to see a different teaching style and see things from new perspectives. You will also use English, the worlds second language. And on my side, I want to learn as much as I can about the nation which will become the worlds largest economy in this century, so you can help me learn too. We will use some techniques not so common in Hong Kong, putting YOU into the position of controlling much of your own learning. Work hard and smart, learn a lot. Work less hard, and learn less! Your choice! Evaluation: An inevitable part of a university course is the grade. The most important evaluation is your self evaluation. Did you think about new things, about old topics in new ways? If so, your efforts will have paid off. Your self evaluation is most important, but there is another procedural matter: Universities, as a matter of tradition, demand grades. They even tell me what range of grades. Grades are grossly overemphasized. Therefore, I find it hard to be sympathetic with a student whose only goal seems to be to earn high grades. If you ABSOLUTELY NEED AN A, consider taking another professor. However, study hard you will learn a lot, and you may be receives an A. There will be a few A's, some Bs, many Cs (HKUST Policy calls for 15% As, 25% Bs, and 60% Cs or lower). Grading is an art not a science, but I will MOST LIKELY base your course grade more or less on the following: Oct 25 Exam - 1 Midterm, covering chapters 1-7 of text plus lectures (mostly text) Nov 12 How a REAL leader leads: 700 words Dec 3 Picturing Culture group project Dec 5 Exam -2 Final exam chapters 8-14 of text and class sessions Participation, including TAPPS exercises (50 points) and OB experiment (50 points) maximum possible 300 points 100 points 200 points 300 points 100 points 1,000 points

Anyone can teach you, but only YOU can learn. Lectures: yes we will have them. But, most likely, what this course can do best is help you learn to learn as you go through life. Thus there are some strange assignments, not asking you to go to a library, but to look around where you are, to observe, analyze, to think. Individual Paper 1: HOW KAREN LAM LEADS - Due midnight Wednesday Nov 12 This two-page paper (700 words) will focus on how a real person you know. You will discuss leadership. First, briefly set the stage. Introduce your person, probably a manager or leader. Then discuss, and critique, his or her leadership. You may focus on a key incident as an illustration. Do this in a way that brings the character to life, keeps reader interest, AND gives new insights as to how leaders achieve (or do NOT achieve) results. If you find a real Karen Lam use her, but it is a made-up name. Pick someone you KNOW, and include the REAL name in your paper. Revise the title however you like. Use an interesting title, so people will want to read your paper. This will be an ACTUAL PERSON YOU KNOW, not Donald Tsang, not Faye Wong. Do NOT go to the library (although it is assumed you will study your text), or even to the Web. LOOK NEXT DOOR. This paper must be about a REAL person YOU HAVE OBSERVED PERSONALLY. You will probably pick someone you have worked for, or maybe a colleague, or your auntie, but each must be about a living, breathing, HK citizen. Now, how does THAT person lead? Start thinking now. Learn to draw ideas from everywhere, including real life. In these reports you will have a chance to look at how some real person YOU PERSONALLY KNOW makes things happen, using examples from your own experience. You will want to read the chapters of your text relating to leadership before you write, and you may well use your real life example to illustrate or cast doubt on ideas from our text but the key is YOUR analysis. What sorts of things might you look at? Maybe you will call your paper 2 "K.Y. Szeto: leadership for the new century." You might use this paper to help you answer some of the unanswered questions about leading and organizational effectiveness. Do left-brained people get better results? If so, under what conditions? You may

answer these questions, or maybe you will look at other aspects. YOUR CHOICE! But, make it informative, and interesting, and with smart ideas about a REAL person. Also, use the title to generate interest. There is no set format for this report. Please do NOT prepare an academic theoretical paper. Rather, write your essay on leadership using A REAL PERSON YOU KNOW as a point of departure. You might weave in material from our text. But, your example and your own thoughts will be the keys. Any paper that starts with the words This paper is about is in danger of being burned. Try to capture the readers attention, and set the direction and purpose of your report, in the first couple sentences. Then make your key points, each main idea in its own paragraph. Wrap it all up in an interesting concluding paragraph. MAKE THE PAPER INTERESTING ENOUGH SO THAT YOUR MOTHER WOULD READ IT, THE WHOLE THING. Start with interesting title, and put name and ID number on back, OK? SO, a unique essay. This will be a paper only you could do, because it is about someone YOU know, YOU have watched. There is no instruction book, no set of clear guidelines, neither here nor in life. Be creative, think, analyze, and share your insights! There is a certain element of risk in having such open an ended free wheeling assignment. But, no pain, no gain. GO FOR IT! The paper will be 700 words or less (probably 2 pages typed but we count WORDS not pages. Double space to make it easier for us to read. You have 900 words? Learn to CONDENSE! No cover page. Although content is more important than appearance, appearance matters too. We should all work to present our efforts in a manner that appears professional. So, yes, your Mother was right: neatness counts. . HOW TO HAND IN? NEW PLAN! CHANGE FROM

SYLLABUS! Hand in HARD copy NOT SOFT COPY, hand in to Jades office (room 2374) or better yet, hand in in class November 12.
Group Project: Picturing Culture! - due IN CLASS Monday December 3

Can organizational culture be seen? Can we assess culture by looking at things? In your group you will prepare and show the class a photo essay on organizational culture, using photos which you will take at two different workplaces. You will display the photos on one or two poster boards, perhaps around 10 to 30 photos. Your photos will illustrate culture, will convey to viewers what it would be like to work at these places. For example your photos may show whether status differential ("power distance"?) is high or low at each workplace. Your photos may show degree of formality/informality. Your photo may hint at how each organization is organized, more mechanistic or more organic. In fact, your photo presentation and essay may address any one (or more) of the many dimensions of organizational culture. You will describe your organizations and their culture using PHOTOS. You may add a few words under each photo too to help describe what is illustrated, but the key will be your photos. Remember, organizational culture is about how a place is to WORK. This is NOT really about how a firm looks to CUSTOMERS. One goal is to force you to be creative, a trait that will help you in the rapidly changing world of the 21st century! NOTE! Include one or more photos taken at your chosen organizations, but including you (all team members) in the photo or photos. There are a million possibilities. See the web for more info, more ideas. DO SOMETHING YOU WILL BE PROUD OF! Your projects will be handed in, and posted so all the class can see, during the last week of class. OK? MORE NEWS LATER! Learning OB by Doing: Experiments: MGTO121 students often participate in experiments related to organizational topics, experiments designed by HKUST faculty. We will do a survey and experiment exploring personality in this class. Exams: Expect a lot of multiple choice or true false questions on each of the two exams, perhaps 50 questions, plus fill in the blanks and short essays. The multiple choice T/F questions will reward reading the text and will count for maybe half of the exam grade. The essays will be similar to things we have done or discussed. The best answers to essay questions will include material from text AND FROM CLASS SESSIONS. Miss class, miss information! Don't forget to go to the bathroom BEFORE EXAMS. No breaks during exams. Sorry Check exam dates NOW. If dates do not fit your schedule, you may want to change sections to another professor. More on Class Procedures: In addition to the life-long memorable photo project and writing assignments and the experiment, we will also have a more-or-less standard class, conducted in a lecture style. But, we will try to

have some kind of "learning from experience" activity at least once each week. Also, given the fact that essay questions will often relate to things we did in class, attendance is important. Late work penalized, so be on time. Odds and Ends: Class is a no pager/no phone zone. Thanks. Also, 99% of us get through life without cheating, and we do not want others taking advantage by cheating. What is cheating? "Helping" your friend by punching his or her PRS is CHEATING, and BOTH of you will be listed as CHEATERS. Signing anothers name on an attendance roster, even if you know the person is coming in a few minutes, is CHEATING. Signing anothers name on a TAPPS exercise? CHEATING! Not worth it! And stupid. SO FEW POINTS AND SO MUCH TO LOSE! Copying another persons paper? DON'T!! NOT WORTH IT! BE PROUD OF YOURSELF! We do not tolerate students in HKUST who copy, or look anywhere NEAR others papers during exams. Marking attendance for others is cheating also, of course. Remember, cheating is wrong. You should be ashamed to cheat. And two cases of ethical misconduct can get you kicked out of HKUST. Ask about last year when a few did cheat. STUPID! West Indies Yacht Club: Many of you will be taking a LABU class where you will look at the WIYC case. Try to apply concepts from that case ALL SEMESRER LONG here in your organizational behavior class. That case has elements of conflict, of motivation, of communication, leadership, groups and teams, EVERYTHING! Apply what you learn here to what you discuss there in LABU! TENTATIVE Class Schedule Date Sep 3 Sep 5 Topics Welcome to the future! Welcome to our organizational world Organizational behavior: where the ideas come from Organizational trends, Five Anchors Behavior at work Your values, my values Perception Do you see what I see? Self fulfilling prophecy What do you expect is what you get Emotions! Good or evil? Incidents on a job survey No class today! Another holiday! Attitudes at work How are you doing this semester? Motivation at work: the engine within us Brains: right, left Epilepsy, creativity Making decisions: YOUR style Effective groups: are teams key to future or fad of the day? Groups and teams: potential for 4 Read (ch.) None None Notes, class exercises Are they effective? (TAPPS exercise) 4,000 Years of OB

Sep 10 Sep 12

1 2

Our changing world: what it all MEANS HK=USA=Korea??

Sep 17 Sep 19

3 3

The runner Bavelas study Kids starting age 5 EI: key to success? Sleep! Go to Macao! Satisfaction=performance?

Sep 24 Sep 26 Oct 1 Oct 3

Oct 8 Oct 10

5 6

Its not the money. (or is it???) Historical perspectives

Oct 15 Oct 17

6 7

Right brain, left brain, no brain Your group is LOST! Good luck! Groupthink and the space

Oct 22

greatness, potential for disaster shuttle Oct 25 NIGHT! NO Thursday Oct 25, 7-9 p.m., LT-A The first awakening: Midterm CLASS OCT 24! study! Chapter 1-7 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Oct 29 Oct 31 Communication: getting the world around Power: who has it, who wants it and conflicts getting it Conflict is everywhere: dealing with it Leadership: to love or to respect? 8 9 Can YOU do it? I way, 2 way Power: 5 kinds

Nov 5 Nov 7

10 11

Negotiate to win? Or: win/win conflict? Leadership MBA, U of Hollywood *** LEADER PAPER DUE TODAY!!!!*** Making pins What Jethro taught Moses No. 1 Peoples Hospital (You design it!!) An MNC in China: can 1+1+1=1? Initiation in industry Initiation at HKUST Ice cubes, you, and Carlos Ghosn

Nov 12 Nov 14

Traits: faces, feet, ?? Moving towards contingency How environment impacts structure and structure impacts jobs Little boxes: does structure matter to PEOPLE? How? More than written rules: CULTURE The way we do things around here? Socialization in the organization: Theory and reality In a changing world, change or die: Unfreeze, change, refreeze

11 12

Nov 19 Nov 21

12 13

Nov 26 Nov 28

13 14

Dec 3 Dec 5 (NIGHT, no day class Dec 5)

Picturing culture! Put your posters on the wall in LTA, and all students evaluate (and vote on) all projects Final! Ch. 8-14 LTA, 7 to 10 PM

Note: This version revised Oct 2, 2007. subject to revision of course . . .