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Faculty
Christian Bosau, University of Cologne

Course Coordinator
ISUP Secretariat

Prerequisite/progression of the course

It is recommended that students do know the basics of organizational behaviour, e.g. from an introductory course.

The course will also be more effective for students, if they are able to read the proposed literature before each session of the course.

Course content, structure and teaching

This course looks at specific topics of organizational behaviour and tries to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of several organizational psychological phenomena.

The topics are:

• „Teams as a panacea in modern management?“ - How important should teams be in organisations in the future?
• „Making a career means becoming a leader.“ - How important are leaders in regard to the triangle of employees, tasks and organisational situation?
• „The culture of organizations has to fit.“ - What is the effect of organisational culture on the effectiveness of organisations?
• „We must be innovate! That’s why we have to be able to learn.“ - To what extent is the concept of the „learning organisation“ a panacea for problems in organisations?
• •„Is Diversity only a management fad?“ - Does it make sense – because it might affect organisational outcomes – to invest in diversity management?
• „Culture is the software of the mind. Organisational culture is the programming of the mind of employees.“ - To what extend does the national culture influences organizational culture?
• „Dealing with the problems of leadership.“ - What is the effect of whistle blowing and the survivor syndrom?
• „Not only are effective leaders important in organisations, but also ethical leadership is necessary in the future“ - What role does ethics have to play in organisations in the future?
• „Global Workforce: Employees must be able to work world widely.“ - What aspects are important regarding the management of a global workforce?
• „When in Rome do as the Romans do – how do I have to recruit in a global environment “ - To what extent can recruiting instruments be used in a standardized way world widely?

The seminar is intended to foster discussions about the diverse topics, instead of following a front lecture style. The questions mentioned above will be discussed in detail and from different perspectives during the seminar based on theories of organizational behaviour. Those theoretical ideas will then furthermore be transferred to prototypical situations of the business environment.

The course's development of personal competences

As a result of doing the course students will:

• Understand the theories of organizational behaviour in more detail
• Be able to apply different ideas and theories of organizational behaviour to new organizational problems
• Be able to debate and discuss the different ideas from different perspectives
• Be able to form a balanced view on those topics in order to be able to make up their mind in real business cases
• Be able to relate the theoretical issues to practical problems encountered in business

Learning Objectives

Students have to show that they have understood the main technical terms, the different ideas and underlying assumptions of organizational behaviour. They should furthermore be able to have a well-balanced opinion about the topics which are discussed and be able to write a well discussed paper about one of the topics.

Teaching methods

The lecture will combine general teaching with interactive seminar-like discussions.

Examination

Final exam: Project/home assignment (written individually), 15 A4 pages.

Re-take exam: Project/home assignment (written individually), 15 A4 pages.

Recommended literature

The course is based on different types of readings, on the one hand textbooks like (BUCHANAN, D. & HUCZYNSKI, A. (2004). Organizational Behaviour – An Introductory Text (5th edition). Harlow: Financial Times Prentice Hall) and on the other hand several journal articles and specialized books and readings.

Last updated by ISUP Secretariat 28/01/2010