Module BUSI49Y15: Further Topics in Organisational Behaviour

Department: Business School (Business)

BUSI49Y15: Further Topics in Organisational Behaviour

Prerequisites

• None

Corequisites

• Organisational Behaviour (BUSI4V815)

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None

Aims

• This module builds on and explores in-depth some of the core topics raised in Organisational Behaviour through further, advanced topics that emphasise the realities of everyday life at work. It aims to provide students with the opportunity to: 
• Build on their knowledge and understanding of Organisational Behaviour to critically understand key challenges in this field; 
• Explore management in relation to individual subjectivity (on the experiences, beliefs and desires of people at work) and how these might inform how we manage; 
• Advance their knowledge and understanding of key issues relating to the processes and practices of everyday organisational life and the implications for how we manage; 
• Develop their critical awareness of contemporary issues and debates related to situating management and work within a context of individual experience.
• This will provide students with fresh insights into management, drawing out practical lessons from the latest international academic research.

Content

• Topics will draw on insights from across the social sciences as well as case studies and the experiences of students and teaching staff. Lectures and seminars will reflect on the value of this knowledge for day-to-day management. Indicative list:
• How can we understand individuals' experiences of work and management?
• Identities and identification at work
• Everyday organisational life (e.g. boredom)
• Informality at work (e.g. humour)
• Personal relationships at work
• Internal politics at work
• Management and the body (e.g. non-verbal communication)
• Working lives and home (e.g. telework)
• Dissatisfaction and resistance at work

Learning Outcomes

• By the end of the module students should have:
• A critical understanding of the workplace and the management of individual employees and their subjective experiences and perspectives;
• An advanced knowledge and understanding of further topics in organisational behavior pertaining to everyday working life and the implications of this knowledge for management practice;
• A critical understanding of the links between the topics covered and individual and organisational outcomes.

• By the end of the module students should be able to: 
• Apply organisational behaviour theories relating to individual subjective experience and everyday working life to their practical understanding of organisational behaviour practice; 
• Critically analyse contemporary debates around advanced organisational behaviour theory and practice; 
• Critique the practice of management from alternative perspectives; 
• Evaluate academic and professional publications from both academic and practitioner perspectives.

• Written communication, problem solving and analysis and the development of cohesive and persuasive arguments; 
• Critical thinking, analysis and synthesis; 
• The ability to take responsibility for continuing to learn through reflection on practice and developing the student's own critical self-awareness, knowledge and skills.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• The learning outcomes will be achieved through a combination of lectures and seminars including case studies, videos, individual exercises, group discussion and guided reading.
• Additional learning support will be provided online via the virtual learning environment and external links to current debates related to organisational behaviour.
• The summative assessment of the module is by written assignment, designed to test students' knowledge and understanding of the subject-matter and their ability to apply it to the analysis of specific advanced organisational behaviour issues and will include an element on self-reflection relative to the knowledge gained and applied in the assignment.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

Feedback will be provided on contributions to seminars and seminar exercises which will explore key organisational behaviour debates through student discussion of, for example, press articles, extracts from memoirs and research interviews. The preparation undertaken for the exercises together with contributions in class will receive feedback at a group and individual level in relation to the learning outcomes and student progress towards developing the subject-specific and key skills.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University