98753 - Organizational Behaviour

Learning outcomes

This course aims to provide the fundamental principles of organization design and behaviour. The student will learn how to properly apply the most important tools in the areas of organizational design and behaviour to improve firm performance. Business cases will be used to show how organizational tools and techniques can be adopted with efficacy in the context of the travel, tourism and hospitality industries.

Course contents

The evidence-basedand organizational context for the study and application of organizational behavior.

“Environmental Context: Diversity, and Ethics (with major sections on diversity, and a major ending section on the impact of ethics on “bottom-line” outcomes).

“Organizational Context:Culture” (best-practice cultures; and a major section on the culture clashes from mergers and acquisitions)

“Personality, Perception, and Employee Attitudes” (with unique major sections on the role of heredity and the brain and emphasis given to “Big Five” personality traits, the Myers-Briggs personality indicator, the perceptual process, and organizational citizenship behavior);

Motivational Needs, Processes, and Applications” (with major sections on extrinsic versus intrinsic motives, procedural justice, attribution theory, job design and goal setting); and

“Communication and Decision Making” with particular emphasis given to nonverbal and interpersonal communication and behavioral dimensions, styles, and techniques of decision making.

“Stress and Conflict” (with material on stress and conflict from advanced technology and globalization, burnout, and work-family initiatives);

“Groups and Teams” (with material on the punctuated equilibrium model of groups, group/team effectiveness, role conflict and ambiguity, social loafing, crossfunctional teams, virtual teams, and cultural/global issues with the use of teams).

“Effective Leadership Processes” (with major sections on the historical studies, traditional and modern theories of leadership and the new “authentic leadership” being developed at the University of Nebraska’s Leadership Institute, and leadership across cultures and the GLOBE project).

“Great Leaders: An Evidence-Based Approach” (with major sections on leading in the new environment, leadership styles, including the new positive, authentic style, the activities and skills of leadership, and leadership development programs).

Readings/Bibliography

Selected chapters from F. Luthans, 'Organizational Behavior', 12th Edition, MacGraw-Hill, available on .pdf from Virtuale. Chapters to study: 1,2, 3 (only culture, pp 71-83), 5, 6,8,9,11

Selected chapters from Peter G. Northouse, 'Leadership. Theory and Practice', 8th Edition, Sage, available on .pdf from Virtuale. Chapters to study: 1(Introduction), 2,4,5,6,7,12,14

Teaching methods

The approach is strongly interactive.

Teaching methods consist of face-to-face lecturing, role plays, case studies, video analysis and simulations, speech by guest peakers on specific topics.. During the lessons, students choosing the applicative path will also be asked to use the Teams platform: attending students are therefore invited to bring their own notebook, tablet etc. in order to share materials, comments, exercises etc.

Students must join the Organizational Behaviour Team on Teams.

Assessment methods

Although not mandatory, attending lessons regularly is strongly recommended.

At the beginning of the course, students can choose between two path:

1) an 'applicative' path consisting of doing 8 brief homework assignments (applications, exercises, case studies etc.) assigned at the end of the lesson.These assignments must carried out and uploaded to Teams meeting the deadlines. Students choosing the applicative path must join the Organizational Behaviour Team on Teams (https://teams.microsoft.com/l/team/19%3ahy0rJ8LhyRHEaAbQa7e8d8p2HJU0Caogfp6k5hrLBqg1%40thread.tacv2/conversations?groupId=bd00f2f6-8a5a-4964-9adb-043827cd2c24&tenantId=e99647dc-1b08-454a-bf8c-699181b389ab). Each assignment awards 1 point. The teacher can also assign further credits and honors by evaluating the overall quality of the assignments and in-class participation. Students choosing applicative path should prepare for the written exam only the selected chapters from the Luthans' handbook.

2) a 'cognitive' path: for students who will not choose the applicative path. the final examination is a written exam consisting of 20 brief open questions to complete in 60 minutes. Students choosing cognitive path should prepare for the written exam ALL the readings (both Luthans and Northouse). In order to help students in preparing the exam, a list of (possible) questions will be available for download from the Virtuale section of this course in due time.

Final grading table:

•<18 insufficient
• 18-23 sufficient
• 24-27 good
• 28-30 excellent
• 30 cum laude honors

Office hours

See the website of Filippo Ferrari