Business Administration: Leadership & Org Behavior

How people in organizations think and behave. Focuses on how leadership and motivation affect individuals and teams in the workplace and a global business context. Prerequisites: BUS 1110 or BUS 1120 or ECON 1400 or ECON 1450 with a minimum grade of C- or Instructor permission; Business Administration, Computer Science & Information Systems, Engineering Management, Dietetics, Nutrition & Food Sciences major; Business Administration minor, Sports Management minor or Instructor permission.

BSAD, CSIS, DNFS, EMGT majors, 2BUS Co-major, and BSAD, SMGT minors only. Open to degree and PACE students; Instructor permission email gsbcss@uvm.edu. Prereqs enforced by the system: BUS 1110 or BUS 1120 or ECON 1400 or ECON 1450 with a minimum grade of C-.

COURSE DESCRIPTION This course is about the organizational psychology and behavior of people in workplace contexts. Course material is organized into three Units focusing on Employees, Teamwork, and Leadership, respectively. Course content is grounded in decades of rigorous scholarly research, well developed and tested theories, established ‘best practices’, and recent insights from organizational behavior and management scholarship (including disciplinary siblings, like human resource management, organizational development, and applied social psychology). I embrace an evidenced-based philosophy of education and practice that guides the concepts, theories, and frameworks I cover. Each unit has an associated case. The capstone learning experience is a team case analysis presentation of events described in the three integrated cases involving multiple employment relationships in the context of an organization undergoing change. Students can apply course material covered in each of the three Units in numerous ways to diagnose, explain, and recommend what managers and team members could have done differently or should do now to achieve their objectives. Students will need to apply teamwork and collaboration skills to effectively plan, coordinate, and conduct thoughtful analyses of the case(s), and develop an approach to present their work in a manner that demonstrates a deep understanding of course material and ability to apply it in insightful ways. OVERVIEW OF TOPICS: UNITS 1-3 Unit 1 - Employees: Students will learn how managerial practices, individual employee characteristics, and work-related events influence employees’ psychological well-being, views about their employment relationship, and job attitudes and performance-related behaviors at work. Students will also learn about evidenced-based practices managers can use to motivate employees and earn their trust and commitment. Unit 2 - Teamwork: Students will learn how team performance and team members’ satisfaction and commitment are shaped by team composition and diversity, each team member’s personality traits and other characteristics, various team states (e.g., cohesion), communication practices, and decision-making processes. Students will also learn about interpersonal skills they can develop and apply to collaborate effectively with others, such as meeting practices, active listening, and conflict resolution. Unit 3 - Leadership: Students will learn evidenced-based principles and frameworks that can inform their use of different leadership styles and management practices that are suited to the nature of different situations, employees, and organizational contexts. Students will also learn how managers and leaders can direct people’s efforts toward the achievement of organizational objectives through reward systems, goal setting, visionary leadership, managing change, and shaping a desired organizational culture.

REQUIRED TEXTBOOK Colquitt, Lepine, & Wesson. (2022). Organizational Behavior: Improving Performance and Commitment in the Workplace (8th Edition). McGraw-Hill. The 8th Edition is required, in any format (e.g., the loose-leaf text via the bookstore or digital rental). Using McGraw’s online “Connect” is NOT required.

ASSESSMENTS AND GRADED WORK **Subject to Change** Official grade-related details will be described on the course syllabus, posted to Brightspace in advance of the first class-meeting. In short, a weighted course percentage grade is computed from three unit-test grades (worth 75%) and two presentation grades (worth 25%), and converted to a course letter grade. Weighted Grade Components 25%: Unit 1 Test Grade 25%: Unit 2 Test Grade 25%: Unit 3 Test Grade 15%: CAP Team Grade 10%: CAP Presenter Grade