Course 2020-2021 a.y.

Classical organizational studies. Personality. Perception. Motivation. Decision Making. Organizational Design amd Structures. People Management. Organizational Culture. Organizational Change. Team. Power and Influence.

This course provides an undergraduate-level introduction to organization theory. The course has two main objectives:

• Provide a specialized language typical of the organizational discipline.
• Provide a 360-degree overview of the core organizational theories to ensure a basic knowledge but adequate and rigorous.

• Develop the ability to apply theories, models and conceptual schemes to different business realities.
• Analyze, individually or in team, a specific business reality with an organizational frame and expertise. Be confident in giving advice to design a stronger organization and to increase people's motivation and satisfaction.

• Face-to-face lectures
• Online lectures
• Case studies /Incidents (traditional, online)
• Group assignments
• Interactive class activities (role playing, business game, simulation, online forum, instant polls)

• In-class exercises to understand the language and to apply models and theory.
• Theories and/or case studies discussions (in-class) to improve communication skills.
• Oral presentations group assignments to improve public speaking skills.
• Group assignments to learn how to apply theories to reality.

ATTENDING STUDENTS ARE CONSIDERED ONLY THOSE WHO WILL DO THE FIELD PROJECT, WHETHER THEY HAVE FOLLOWED THE COURSE FACE TO FACE OR IN DISTANCE

To become attending, students should respect one condition: field project assignment. 

Assessment for attending students consists of their performance in the group field project, their class participation, and their performance inthe final exam. The final exam is written and composed of one open questions (7 points each) a multiple-choice exam of 24 questions with four options each and just one correct answer. The exam will consist of a mix (i) pure theoretical questions and (ii) applications of models and theoretical concepts from the course materials, and is “closed-book”, “no-notes” (i.e. no materials can be used during the exam). The exam isgraded with a range of 0-31 points, with a fixed grade distribution based on the standard Bocconi undergrad grading policy (from 0/31 to 17/31 the exam is failed) and no penalization for wrong answers.

The grade for attending students is the weighted average calculated as follows:

Total course grade = 0.4 x GFP + 0.6 x FE

Component                                   Grading policy

GFP (Group Field Project)        =  0-31 points, written report + group presentation

FE (Final Exam)                        = 0-31 points, fixed grade distribution

Attending students that fail to submit the Group Field Project by the deadline will automatically become non-attending students.  

Passing the course requires a final grade of minimum 18/31. As an example, a grade of 30 in the group field project and a grade of 10 in the final exam will result in a final grade of 18. 

Total course grade = 0.4 x 30 (GFP) + 0.6 x 10 (FE) = 18

Field Project grades will expire after the session of February 1st  2020 meaning that it is possible to be considered attending only until the above mentioned session of February included.

Field Project. The aim of the Group Field Project (GFP) is to give the opportunity of applying theory to reality and, in particular, to real organizations. So that, each group has to find an interesting company and analyze it from an organizational frame, trying to use the concepts and the models that are presented during the course (in particular in the second part of the course). 

Group’s composition and the case study chosen by each group should be determined by students within the end of September. Groups’ sizeshould be around 8 people for a total number of 13/14 groups.

Each student group:

1)          Select an interesting and accessible case study (a company which sounds interesting regarding theories and models presented in class)

2)          Analyze the case and verifying the fit strategy/structure, strategy-people management system and the strength of the company.

3)          Writes a case report, which contains a description following a structure given in class (max. 15 pages, references, and appendixes excluded)

4)          Prepare and deliver a slide presentation in class (15 minutes for each group project) at the end of the course during the last 3 sessions.

Groups will submit their written reports through the Black Board and in case of problem with the procedure by email to the TA and in copy to the instructor. Deadline for submission of the GFP reports is the end of November. Deadlines must be respected.

In case attending students encounter problems with non-responsive or free-riding members in their group, and they are not able to resolvethese problems with the group, they are invited to notify the instructor.

For non-attending students, the assessment is based exclusively on their performance in the final exam. The final exam is a multiple-choicetest (31 questions) and is “closed-book”, “no-notes” (i.e. no materials can be used during the exam). Each question has four options with just one correct answer. The exam will consist of a mix of (i) pure theoretical questions and (ii) applications of models and theoretical concepts from the whole textbook. It is graded with a range of 0-31 points, with a fixed grade distribution based on the standard Bocconi undergradgrading policy (from 0/31 to 17/31 the exam is failed) and no penalization for wrong answers.

The material for this course is a mix of slides provided by instructors and research and practitioner articles. In class, we will use slides topresent the main ideas and guide the discussion. The slides and the articles are posted on the e-learning platform (Blackboard). Students candownload copies directly from their computer and read them. In addition, case studies, role-playing and self-assessment exercises will be distributed in class, being part of the teaching material for the course. Notes taken in class are fundamental to integrate all the course materials provided by instructors.

For students who prefer the guidance of a textbook, we recommend the following “course companion” textbooks:

Organizational Behavior Managing People and Organizations 

Ricky W. Griffin, Jean M. Philips and Stanley M. Gully (Authors)

Imprint: South-Western        
Pub Date: 2016 
Edition: International Edition 12th Edition 

Publisher: Cengage Learning, Inc        
Published in: United States

This book can serve as a support for the attending students while it is mandatory for non-attending students. It can be useful because itincorporates most of the topics discussed in the course and places them into coherent intellectual contexts (in particular: Individual Effectiveness, Social Interactions, Groups, Teams and Leadership, Organizational Design and Organizational Change). Note, however, that for attending students this book is not a replacement for the assigned lecture notes and slides, as they may follow a different organization: someissues that we cover in-depth in the course in class receive only brief treatment in the book, and vice versa.

Students can find the textbook at Egea bookshop.

J.M. PHILLIPS, S.M. GULLY, R.W. GRIFFIN, Organizational Behaviour, Managing People and Organizations, Cengage Learning, 2017, 12 Ed.

This book is mandatory for non-attending students. 

Students can find the textbook at Egea bookshop.