Course Syllabus
OB 6301.0W1
The University of Texas at Dallas
Course Info | Tech Requirements | Access & Navigation | Communications | Resources
Assessments | Academic Calendar | Scholastic Honesty | Course Evaluation | UTD Policies
Course Information
Course
Course Number Section OB 6301-0W1
Course Title Organizational Behavior
Term and Dates Summer 2016, May 23 – Aug 8
Professor Contact Information
Professor Maria Hasenhuttl, PhD
Office Phone 972-883-5898 (please don’t leave a message)
Email Address please use eLearning messages
Office Location JSOM 4.411
Online Office Hours By appointment
Other Information I am happy to talk with you on the phone or meet with you in
person. If you would like to make an appointment, please email me through the course site.
About the Instructor
Hello. I am Maria Hasenhüttl. I am a Clinical Assistant Professor and Assistant Area Coordinator
in the Organizations, Strategy and International Management department. I primarily teach
Organizational Behavior, Strategic Management and Global Strategy to undergraduate and
graduate students. My research interests include corporate governance, executive compensation
and growth/fixed mindset and its influence on success. I grew up in Austria, my husband is from
Greece, and my kids are Texans. I enjoy spending time with my family, the outdoors, reading
and going to book sales.
My teaching philosophy is best represented by the following quote by Herbert A. Simon, a Nobel
Laureate and one of the founders of the field of Cognitive Science:
“Learning results from what the student does and thinks and only from what the student does and
thinks. The teacher can advance learning only by influencing what the student does to learn”.
Course Pre-requisites, Co-requisites, and/or Other Restrictions
No course pre/co-requisites.
Course Description
This course is an introduction to the field of Organizational Behavior. Research
demonstrates that, time and again, understanding people, groups and organizations is a
more critical determinant of success than technical skills. We will be discussing your role in
the organization as an organizational citizen – covering a wide range of topics including
how to motivate and reward people, what makes work groups function effectively, the
impact of leadership styles and communication, how to access and accumulate power and
influence, how to diagnose and manage change.
The goal of this course is to provide you with theoretical frameworks and a vocabulary to help
you understand and analyze happenings in organizations. The expected benefits include a chance
to analyze your personal dispositions and skills so that you can make better choices and be
effective in your work and career.
Your active engagement and sharing of experiences will be key factors in making this course a
success. Respect for the opinions of others is an essential characteristic for any learning
community. Although it is likely you may not agree with everything that is discussed or said in
this course, you are expected to express your viewpoints in a manner that is courteous and
respectful.
Student Learning Objectives/Outcomes
• Explain and apply major scholarly approaches and empirical findings in
Organizational Behavior at the individual, group, and organizational level.
• Apply basic theories of motivation, evaluate the differences between
different motivational approaches and assess the efficacy of motivational programs.
• Recognize Decision Making (DM) problems and opportunities and apply
the appropriate DM models while considering ethical dilemmas and implications.
• Demonstrate an understanding of the sources and consequences of multi-
ethnic and multi-cultural diversity and develop strategies to bridge the differences and
capitalize on the benefits of diversity in all its forms in organizations.
• Increase self-awareness and understanding of your strengths and
weaknesses so that you can be more effective in your career.
• Analyze and explain the connection between OB concepts and personal
work experiences.
Required Textbooks and Materials
Required Texts
Steven L. McShane, Mary Ann Von Glinow. Organizational Behavior, 7th edition, 2015.
McGraw-Hill. ISBN-13:978-0-07-786258-9. (MG).
Required Materials
• Reflected Best Self Exercise (RBSE). RBSE is available for purchase ($9
for one copy) with a credit card on the website – www.centerforpos.org. There, click on
the “DO” link and then on “Tools”, which will take you to the following page
http://positiveorgs.bus.umich.edu/cpo-tools/reflected-best-self-exercise-2nd-edition/,
click on “Purchase”. You need to complete the order form, and pay for your copy. Upon
completing the purchase process, you are then able to download a PDF of the RBSE, and
are authorized to print one copy.
• Articles. Select chapters require additional readings. These articles are
available for free through the UTD library. I will also provide a link in eLearning through
which you can purchase the Harvard Business Review articles at the reduced student rate.
Suggested Course Materials
Range of journals through McDermott Library
(www.utdallas.edu/library/resources/journals.htm).
Suggested Readings/Texts
• I have provided a list of articles (and links to videos) that I find interesting.
Most of them can be obtained through the UTD Library. You can read the articles you
find interesting. They are located at the end of this syllabus.
Textbooks and some other bookstore materials can be ordered online through Off-Campus Books
or the UTD Bookstore. They are also available in stock at both bookstores. You may use other
sources.
Course Policies
Make-up exams
None
Extra Credit
None
Late Work
Not accepted
Special Assignments
None
Class Participation
You are required to login regularly to the online class site. I will use the tracking feature in
eLearning to monitor student activity. You are also required to participate in all class activities
such as discussion board, chat or conference sessions and group projects.
Virtual Classroom Citizenship
The same guidelines that apply to traditional classes should be observed in the virtual classroom
environment. Please use proper netiquette when interacting with class members, our TA and me.
Policy on Server Unavailability or Other Technical Difficulties
The university is committed to providing a reliable online course system to all users. However,
in the event of any unexpected server outage or any unusual technical difficulty which prevents
students from completing a time sensitive assessment activity, the instructor will extend the time
windows and provide an appropriate accommodation based on the situation. Students should
immediately report any problems to the instructor and also contact the UTD eLearning Help
Desk: http://www.utdallas.edu/elearninghelp, 1-866-588-3192. The instructor and the UTD
eLearning Help Desk will work with the student to resolve any issues at the earliest possible
time.
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Technical Requirements
In addition to a confident level of computer and Internet literacy, certain minimum technical
requirements must be met to enable a successful learning experience. Please review the
important technical requirements on the Getting Started with eLearning webpage.
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Course Access and Navigation
This course was developed using a web course tool called eLearning. It is to be delivered entirely
online. Students will use their UTD NetID account to login at: http://elearning.utdallas.edu.
Please see more details on course access and navigation information.
To get familiar with the eLearning tool, please see the Student eLearning Tutorials.
UTD provides eLearning technical support 24 hours a day/7 days a week. The services include a
toll free telephone number for immediate assistance (1-866-588-3192), email request service,
and an online chat service. Please use this link to access the UTD eLearning Support Center:
http://www.utdallas.edu/elearninghelp.
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Communications
This eLearning course has built-in communication tools which will be used for interaction and
communication. Some external communication tools such as regular email and a web
conferencing tool may also be used during the semester. For more details, please visit the
eLearning Tutorials webpage for video demonstrations on numerous tools in eLearning.
Interaction with Instructor
I will communicate with you mainly using the Announcements, Email and Discussions tools.
Please send personal concerns or questions to me using the course email tool (messages). Do not
post private information on the Discussion Board. I will reply to your emails or Discussion board
messages within 3 working days under normal circumstances.
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Student Resources
Online students have access to resources including the McDermott Library, Academic
Advising, The Office of Student AccessAbility, and many others. Please see the eLearning
Current Students page http://www.utdallas.edu/elearning/students/cstudents.htm for details.
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Student Assessments
Grading Information
Weights
• Introduction on Discussion Board
0 points
0 %
• Community Circle post and replies
2 points
2 %
• 2 Work Experience Journals
18 points
18 %
• Participation – Discussion
20 points
20 %
• RBSE – Reflected Best Self Exercise
15 points
15 %
• Quizzes
20 points
20 %
• Team Facilitation Project
25 points
25 %
Total
100
100%
Grading Scale
Scaled Score
Letter Equivalent
89.90 – 100
A
79.90 – 89.89
B
69 – 79.89
C
Less than 69
F
Grading Policy
If you have questions about grades, please send them to me via eLearning email or make an
appointment with me. For quiz questions, be specific about why you believe that your answer
was correct. Include references to page numbers in the textbook and/or slides. For participation
grades, refer specifically to where and when you posted your messages. All grade inquiries
must be made within one week of the close of the quiz/participation window.
Accessing Grades
You can check your grades by clicking “My Grades” on the course menu after the grade for each
assessment task is released.
Assignments
• Introduction on Discussion Board (0%)
Post your introduction on the discussion board. Provide the following information in this order:
1. Your name
2. A description of your job and employer/industry information (current or previous)
3. Your familiarity with OB concepts (scan your textbook, the module outlines, or your course
schedule for ideas)
4. Where you are located geographically
5. What you hope to gain from this course
6. Anything else that is important to you that will give us a fuller picture of who you are
7. One interesting fact about you that is generally not known
7. You may also provide pictures of you, your spouse, your children, your best animal friend,
your car, etc.
• Community Circle Post (2%)
“Conversation is a natural way
we humans think together.”
“It’s not differences that divide us.
It’s our judgments about
each other that do.”
Margaret J. Wheatley
Objectives:
• Get to know one another
• Building greater community
• Celebrate our community’s cultural diversity
• Recognize that everyone is unique and has gifts to share
• Be aware that each of us can make a difference
Norms:
• Speak freely.
• Listen carefully to others. Try to really understand what they are saying and
respond to it, especially when their ideas are different from yours.
• Keep an open mind and heart.
• Value the experiences of others. Think about how your own experiences have
contributed to your thinking.
In addition to your post, you are expected to reply to at least 2 of your colleagues. See if you
can find someone with whom you have something in common, or you can relate to someone
else’s experience even though they might come from a different background. The goal here is
simply to encourage you to read what others have to say so you can get to know your classmates
better. This is directly related to one of the learning objectives of this course: understanding
multi-cultural diversity.
Questions (please respond to at least 2 questions):
• Tell us about your racial, ethnic, and social class background while you were
growing up and something that you are proud of about your background and something that was
difficult about your background.
• Describe your earliest memory of racial or cultural differences. What information
did you learn at that time? How did you get the information? What values were attached to what
you learned?
• Describe your earliest memory of class (economic) differences. What information
did you learn at that time? How did you get the information? What values were attached to what
you learned?
• In what ways have your upbringing, experiences, or thinking influenced your
life?
• Think about the most important factors that you think have contributed to how
you see your own culture and other cultures.
• What experiences have you had with cross-cultural communications? Please
share at least one experience when this has gone well and when it has not gone well.
• 2 Work Experience Journals (18 %)
A very important part of this course is the experience that you bring to class. In order to draw on some of
your experience, you will be required to enter your thoughts in a journal over the course of the semester.
These are not intended to be major research papers. These are intended to be short written statements
describing an experience that you have had in an organization and relating it to the readings for the week.
You will be expected to post a journal entry on 2 of the units. You can choose any of the units to write on,
but my advice is to pick one earlier in the semester so that you can get feedback for your other journal
