Managing Human Behavior in the Organization
Columbia University, School of Continuing Education
Summer 2013
Class Location: 303 Hamilton Hall
Class Time: Tues & Thurs: 6:10-9:25pm
Instructor: Dr. Cynthia A. Thompson (cat2138@columbia.edu) Emails answered within 24 hours, except on weekends.
Phone: 646-312-3644
Office: Room 218F Uris
Office Hours: Tues & Thurs: 5-5:50pm, or by appointment
REQUIRED TEXT:
1. Organizational Behavior: Key Concepts, Skills, and Best Practices (5e), by Angelo Kinicki and Mel Fugate. McGraw-Hill Irwin 2012. ISBN: 978-0-07-813720-4
2. HBR cases (3): a. Managing Diversity at Spencer Owens & Co. b. Managing Diversity at Cityside Financial Services c. Taran Swan at Nickelodeon Latin America (A)
3. HBR articles (3) (see Course Schedule below)
The cases and articles can be purchased after registering at Harvard Business Online. I will provide you with the HBS course link on the first night of class.
4. Additional readings as assigned.
PURPOSE AND DESCRIPTION OF COURSE
The effective management of human capital is essential in creating high performance organizations. We’ve all had experiences or heard stories about incompetent, disrespectful, or clueless bosses; uncooperative, unmotivated co-workers or teammates; or poorly managed change initiatives that fail. Taken together, these instances of poor management can affect the morale of employees, or worse, the very survival of the organization.
The purpose of this course is to enhance student understanding of the various ways in which organizational effectiveness can be increased through people. We will focus on strategies for creating work environments that encourage employee retention, motivation, and continued commitment to the organization. These strategies are derived from evidence-based research in the fields of psychology, sociology, anthropology, social psychology, and