People in Organizations

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Course Requirements:

Participation: The students will have the opportunity throughout the lectures to participate in discussions, to ask questions, and to share their opinions with others. Any engagement with these activities will contribute to the participation grade.

Examinations: There will be complete two examinations – a midterm and a comprehensive final exam. Exams will consist of multiple-choice and essay questions.

Case/Problem Analysis by Teams:Each studentwill become a member of a team consisting of three people. The teams will work on a real-life problem or a case during the classes and their performance will be evaluated by the instructor.

Class Presentations by Teams: Each team will make one formal presentation at the end of the semester. Presentations will be on a real organizational problem. The problem must be related to a chapter topic. The team must assume the role of a consulting firm called into solve a problem in an organization. To arrive at a realistic problem, each group member should interview with several managers and employees in their workplace, discussing problems and possible solutions.Groups should also search business periodicals as well as academic journals to find out some management practices that are recommended to solve that specific problem. All projects must be approved by the instructor before being started.

The presentation will be followed by 10-15 minutes questions from the class playing the role of an Executive Management Committee representing the “problem company”. The group must hand in during the class period preceding their presentation a fact sheet describing their organization and problem. They should also submit a group project summary report (to the instructor) which includes a detailed outline of their presentation, description of specific tasks performed by each group member, sources of information (persons interviewed and bibliography) and a paragraph summarizing what the group learnt from the project.

The presentation should roughly follow this format: (1) Nature and background of firm, (2) Description of their problem, (3) Proposed remedy (including a convincing justification based on successes in other firms or accepted management principles, (4) Plan for implementation, and (5) Question and answer period. This is a professional presentation and the quality of visual aids and handouts should enhance, not distract, from the message.

Classroom Expectations:

Both students and the instructor are expected to be on time in class, unless prior arrangements have been made. Everyone in class is expected be respectful to other participants, and do his/her part to maintain a good learning environment. Use of cell phones and any other electronic devices is not allowed during class.

During the class time and in exams, students are expected to behave in accordance with the University Honor Cod. Any action (such as cheating in exams) that violates the Honor Code can result in an F grade and calls for disciplinary action. Besides, all submitted work for this course should be original which means that it must not have been used for any other course or taken from the work of others without properly citing the source (e.g., web sites, books, articles, etc.).

Grading Information and Criteria:

Class Participation : 5%

Case/Problem Analysis by Teams : 15%

Class Presentations by Teams : 20%

Midterm Exam : 25%

Final Exam : 35%

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