COURSE OUTLINE

CENTRE FOR BUSINESS

COURSE NAME: ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR
COURSE CODE: PSY 1129
CREDIT HOURS: 42
PREREQUISITES: BUS 1030
COREQUISITES: None
PLAR ELIGIBLE: YES ( X ) NO ( )
EFFECTIVE DATE: January 2010
PROFESSOR:
PHONE: EMAIL:

NOTE TO STUDENTS: Academic Departments at George Brown College will NOT retain historical copies
of Course Outlines. We urge you to retain this Course Outline for your future reference.

FOR OFFICE USE ONLY

ORIGINATOR:__________J. Bulmash_______________________________September 2009________

SIGNATURE DATE

CHAIR:______________________________________________________________November 2009_______
SIGNATURE DATE

DATE OF REVISION:__________________________________________________

EQUITY STATEMENT: George Brown College values the talents and contributions of its students, staff and community
partners and seeks to create a welcoming environment where equity, diversity and safety of all groups are fundamental.
Language or activities which are inconsistent with this philosophy violate the College policy on the Prevention of
Discrimination and Harassment and will not be tolerated. The commitment and cooperation of all students and staff are
required to maintain this environment. Information and assistance are available through your Chair, Student Affairs,
the Student Association or the Human Rights Advisor.

George Brown College is dedicated to providing equal access to students with disabilities. If you require academic
accommodations visit the Disability Services Office or the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services Office on your campus.

STUDENT RESPONSIBILITIES: Students should obtain a copy of the Student Handbook and refer to it for additional
information regarding the grading system, withdrawals, exemptions, class assignments, missed tests and exams,
supplemental privileges, and academic dishonesty. Students are required to apply themselves diligently to the course of
study, and to prepare class and homework assignments as given. Past student performance shows a strong relationship
between regular attendance and success.
COURSE NAME: Organizational Behaviour PAGE: 1 of 7
COURSE CODE: PSY 1129
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course will provide the student with an overview of the fundamental theories and principles
of organizational behaviour and illustrate how these theories are translated into practice within
organizations. It will demonstrate the importance of understanding behaviour at the individual,
the group, and the organizational levels when managing organizations.
An integral part of this course is to develop student’s leadership and interpersonal skills through
experiential exercises and discussion and to provide students with an opportunity to evaluate
their own experiences, preferences, strengths, and weaknesses, and how these may impact their
ability to become effective members of organizations.

ESSENTIAL EMPLOYABILITY SKILLS

As mandated by the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities, essential employability skills
(EES) will be addressed throughout all programs of study. Students will have the opportunity to
learn (L) specific skills, to practice (P) these skills, and/or be evaluated (E) on the EES outcomes in
a variety of courses. The EES include communication, numeracy, critical thinking & problem
solving, information management, interpersonal and personal skills. The faculty for this course has
indicated which of the EES are either Learned (L), Practiced (P) or Evaluated (E) in this course:

Skill L P E Skill L P E
1. communicate clearly, concisely and 7. locate, select, organize and
correctly in the written, spoken and document information using
visual form that fulfills the purpose appropriate technology and
and meets the needs of the audience √ √ information sources √ √

2. respond to written, spoken or visual 8. show respect for the diverse

messages in a manner that ensures opinions, values, belief systems,
effective communication and contributions of others
√ √ √ √
3. execute mathematical operations 9. interact with others in groups
accurately or teams in ways that
contribute to effective working
relationships and the √ √
achievement of goals

4. apply a systematic approach to solve 10. manage the use of time and
problems other resources to complete
√ √ projects √ √

5. use a variety of thinking skills to 11. take responsibility for my

anticipate and solve problems actions, decisions and
√ √ consequences √ √

6. analyze, evaluate, and apply relevant

information from a variety of sources √ √

COURSE NAME: Organizational Behaviour PAGE: 2 of 7

COURSE CODE: PSY 1129
COURSE OUTCOMES
Upon successful completion of this course the students will have reliably demonstrated the
ability to:

1. Explain how individual processes can influence organizational behaviour

 Define the concept of values and explain the influence that one’s culture and ethical perspective
can have on organizational behaviour.
 Discuss motivation theories and why motivation is important
 Describe the role that emotions can play in the workplace and the type of attitudes that can
influence behaviour
 Outline the perceptual process and discuss how perception can affects behaviour
 Describe the various personality theories
 Explain the concept of stress, the various sources of stress and what organizations do to help
employees manage stress

2. Describe the various team processes and explain how effective teams operate
 Explain the team effectiveness model
 Discuss team processes and design components
 Describe the different types of teams
 Discuss the rational model of decision making, why it is important and the contingencies that
can affect decision making
 Identify sources of conflict and outline the 5 interpersonal styles of conflict management
 Describe the various sources of power and influencing tactics

3. Describe different types of leadership and explain the importance of leadership

 Describe the various styles of leadership
 Explain why leadership is important and what traits make an effective leader
 Describe the Path Goal theory of leadership
 Discuss what is meant by transformational leadership
 Discuss how leaders manage change
 Explain Lewin’s force field analysis model

4. Practice how to work effectively with individuals and groups

 Explain the importance of communication and explore your own communication style.
Practice active listening, paraphrasing and differentiate between nonverbal and verbal
communication.
 Explore your own interpersonal style as it relates to managing conflict.
 Examine how your personality and values can influence others
 Engage in team related activities and reflect on what is meant by effective teams
 Explore one’s own leadership ability
 Examine how employees react to change

DELIVERY METHODS/LEARNING ACTIVITIES

Lecture, collaborative work, role play, videos, experiential exercises, self assessments, case
incidences.

COURSE NAME: Organizational Behaviour PAGE: 3 of 7

COURSE CODE: PSY 1129
LIST OF TEXTBOOKS AND OTHER TEACHING AIDS

Reguired: McShane, Seven L. Canadian Organizational Behaviour. McGraw Hill Ryerson, 7th
Edition. 2009

On line resources: www.mcgrawhill.ca/college/mcshane, http://webct.gbrownc.on.ca

MISSED TERM WORK OR EXAMINATIONS

Exemption or deferral of a quiz, exam or assignment is not permitted except for a medical or
personal emergency. The professor must be notified by e-mail prior to the due date. Appropriate
documentation, as determined by the professor, must be submitted.

Any student who either misses a quiz, the midterm exam or does not hand in an assignment and
who provides acceptable documentation of illness or other serious problem will have the missed
percentage of the course mark added to the weighting of the final exam.

Absence from final exam:

Professor must be notified by e-mail before the examination
Documentation must be presented to the professor within three working days.
If the majority of the course work has been completed with a passing performance, and the
documentation is acceptable, an "Incomplete" grade (INC) will be entered by the instructor. An
INC grade will not be granted if term work was missed or failed.
The final examination must be written within 60 days of the submission of the incomplete
grade. Failure to do this will result in an F grade.
.
TESTING POLICY
All tests will be closed-book. Mid-term and final examinations will be comprised of a
combination of short answers, and multiple choice. The final exam will be based on material
covered after the mid term.

ASSIGNMENT POLICY
Students unable to submit an assignment on the due date are expected to discuss the matter in
advance with the professor. At the professor’s discretion, late assignments may not be accepted.
Where late assignments are accepted, the professor will apply a late penalty.

It is expected that all students will make a significant contribution to the group assignment. If
not, marks may be adjusted accordingly. If the group is unable to progress as planned due to
medical and/or personal reasons, it is expected that the group will contact the professor
immediately. The entire group is responsible for the accuracy of the entire report, including
proper referencing of sources.

COURSE NAME: Organizational Behaviour PAGE: 4 of 7

COURSE CODE: PSY 1129
EVALUATION SYSTEM:

Assessment Tool: Description: Outcome(s) EES Date / % of

assessed: assessed: Week: Final
Grade:
Mid term Chapters covered prior to 1-4 1,2,3-7 Week 7 25
midterm. Mid term will consist
of multiple choice /true false
and short answer questions
Final Exam Chapters covered after the 1-5 1,2,3-7 Week 15 25
midterm. Final exam will
consist of multiple choice and
short answer questions
Quiz (3) MC /TF questions Ch1,2,3-6, 1-5 1,2,3-7 Week 15
8,12,13 3,5,12
In class exercises Exercises/ simulations/ role 1-5 1,2,4-11 10
plays/ cases.

This course has a strong focus

on in-class discussions and
applying the material covered
in class, utilizing
Organizational Behaviour
concepts and theories.
Students will be evaluated on
their participation during class

Research Paper Group project 1-5 1,2,4-11 Week 25

(group) The purpose of the paper is for 13/14
students to research on a
particularly interesting aspect
of Organizational Behaviour.
Library research using several
sources of information about
the topic(s) is a minimum
requirement for this paper.
TOTAL: 100%

GRADING SYSTEM
The passing grade for this course is a D. A minimum grade of C is required for HRPAO
purposes.
A+ 90-100 4.0 B+ 77-79 3.3 C+ 67-69 2.3 D+ 57-59 1.3 Below 50 F 0.0
A 86-89 4.0 B 73-76 3.0 C 63-66 2.0 D 50-56 1.0
A- 80-85 3.7 B- 70-72 2.7 C- 60-62 1.7

Excerpt from the College Policy on Academic Dishonesty:

The minimal consequence for submitting a plagiarized, purchased, contracted, or in any manner inappropriately
negotiated or falsified assignment, test, essay, project, or any evaluated material will be a grade of zero on that material.
To view George Brown College policies please go to www.georgebrown.ca/policies

Students will receive feedback and/results of all tests and assignments within two weeks of the due date
except in unusual circumstances.

COURSE NAME: Organizational Behaviour PAGE: 5 of 7

COURSE CODE: PSY 1129
 TOPICAL OUTLINE

Week Topic Outcome Content Chapter Assignment/ test

1 Introduction 1 OB Trends 1
5 anchors of
Organizational
behaviours
Knowledge
management

2 Individual 1, 4 MARS model 2

Behaviour, Values Values across
& Personality cultures
Ethics
Personality theories

3 Perception 1, 4 Perceptual process, ch3 (p53-65) Quiz 1 – chapter

errors, stereotyping 1,2
Managing 4
Workplace emotions,
emotions and Emotional
attitudes and stress Intelligence, Job
satisfaction,
commitment,
Stress
4 Foundation of 1, 4 motivational 5,
employee theories
motivation job design practices
self leadership 6 page 138-147
Applied
Performance
Practices

5 Team Dynamics 2, 4 Model of team 8,9 Quiz 2 – chapter

effectiveness 3,4, 5,6
Communicating in team design
Teams and features, team
organizations processes ,types of
teams
team decision
making
team building
6 Team dynamics 1, 2, 4 team building 8,,9
continued
Com. models, Ch 9 - P 211-
Communication in channels, barriers, 2223
Teams and cross cultural com.
Organizations improving
interpersonal com.
7 Mid term MID TERM
RESEARCH paper
Research paper discussed and
groups formed
8 Intersession
9 Decision Making 2, 4 Models of decision 7
making, evaluating Pages153-165
COURSE NAME: Organizational Behaviour PAGE: 6 of 7
COURSE CODE: PSY 1129
 decision outcomes,
employee
involvement
Creativity theories,
process
10 Power and 2, 4 Sources of power, 10
influence contingencies,
influencing others,
organizational
politics

11 Conflict and 2, 4 Conflict process 11

Negotiation Sources of conflict
Interpersonal
conflict
management styles
Negotiation
Third party
12 Leadership in 3, 5 Perspectives of 12 Quiz 3- chapter7,8,
Organizational leadership pages 283-293 10,11
Settings Cross cultural
issues

13 Organizational 3, 5
Change Lewins force field 15 pages 353-
theory 362
Managing change
14 Course Review
Presentations
15 Final exam Final Exam

Please note: this schedule may change as resources and circumstances require.

For information on withdrawing from this course without academic penalty, please refer to the College Academic
Calendar: http://www.georgebrown.ca/Admin/Registr/PSCal.aspx

COURSE NAME: Organizational Behaviour PAGE: 7 of 7

COURSE CODE: PSY 1129