Macro-Organizational Behavior

MACRO-ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR
BUS 765

Facilitator: Harry J. Bury, Ph.D.
Office: (216) 826-2395
Home: (216) 891-9517
E MAIL:
Website:

The macro-perspective provides a broader view of organizational effectiveness by dealing with the major sub-units of the organization rather than individuals and small groups. This perspective deals with employee behavior as well as with overall design of the organization, efficiency, and adaptation to the environment. The macro-route to organizational change includes design of individual roles and organizational structures, relationships among roles, control systems, and information technology. A field activity in organizational development is a major focus of the course.

To be an effective systems manager one needs to be adept at working in teams, achieving goals and objectives with and through other people. In addition, people tend to learn more when they are involved in the learning process and when they are called upon to facilitate the learning of others.

We have nineteen meetings together during this session. Hardly enough time to understand the Theories of Organizational Behavior. Hence, we will only scratch the surface. The objective is to spark our interest so that we all are motivated to delve deeper into this marvelous and exciting subject matter the rest of our lives.

Each time I have the privilege to facilitate the learning of this material I change the process in order to both find a more effective way to achieve the goals of learning and to not become boring through repetition.

The process will include a feedback sheet which each participant is asked to submit each meeting. It is designed to enable me to understand what is happening with you as we proceed through this learning experience together. On the sheet will be a place for you to ask questions.
I do not claim to have answers but your questions may well cause valuable discussion in Organizational Behavior areas of class interest and enable the experience to be a practical one.
I will share my opinion and ask course participants to do the same. I ask that you fill out the feedback sheet the weekend of the class itself and please give it to me at 7:00 p.m. the following Friday evening class.

Each team will usually meet together on Friday evening from 7:00 p.m. to 7:15 p.m. The purpose of the meeting is to reflect together about the learnings of the previous class in order to get our minds focused on the subject matter.

We suggest that individuals who arrive early begin the team meeting at once in an effort to be efficient and perhaps eliminate or shorten team meetings on non-class days.

First Organizational Development Learning Opportunity

This year a major focus is to better understand organizations by changing them. Consequently, learning teams of two persons will select an organization (such as a branch bank, a police or fire department, a small business, an accounting department, a dental practice, a library, the Board of Directors of the Jaycees, etc.) and do an organizational change effort aimed at transforming the culture or total system of an organization or organizational subunit. A team building process would be excellent. Remember, these are not simply training activities. Facilitators need to focus on the process of the client system. Interventions need to relate to how the client system does its work in terms of facilitating improvement. The course facilitator’s assumption is that this is a year long change project. It would be helpful to find the client system during the summer.

The facilitators will report their results to the class and submit a written report to each colleague and two reports to the course facilitator. In the past, facilitators have invited persons from the client system to participate in the presentation to the class and it has proved very effective.

The written report may be of any length necessary to cover the essentials with a major focus on the results of your various interventions. Capture and present to the class the spirit of the change process as well as the organizational and personal goal accomplishments. Two facilitator teams will report their progress to the class each session and invite the class to participate in their questions and dilemmas. Each team will meet with the course facilitator beforehand to design the class facilitation at the completion of their intervention.

Second Learning Opportunity

In addition, teams of five will research a leading-edge company in Organizational Development and present their findings to the class in the form of a written report the session prior and lead a discussion of their findings the next session. Use the text Maverick as an example of a leading edge company. Please divide the report into three parts:

1. Description of the company’s cutting edge behaviors. Note, the emphasis on actual behavior, not theory.

2. What the Learning Team thinks about the cutting edge behaviors, what further advances the
company will make, etc.

3. Indicate how each of the learning team members plan to implement their learnings from this
experience in their own work place.

Remember to distribute the written report for both assignments two weeks before facilitating the discussion of the team’s organization’s behavior. If possible, invite the CEO, plant manager and hourly personnel to participate in the discussion.

Third Learning Opportunity

Your team is to find a work group/organization that will allow you to observe people at work. Using information from Chapter 21, redesign their workgroups jobs for the purpose of increasing performance and intrinsic motivation. Return to the workgroup and share your new design with both the workers and the supervisor separately and be attentive to their feedback. Capture the learning from this entire experience in a paper of about 3 to 4 pages and be prepared to present your findings to the class.

Everyone attending every class meeting will have two points added to the final grade. If one misses a class, two points will be deducted from the final grade unless one watches an assigned video and write a paper. This is not punishment. It is an opportunity to get one’s money’s worth by added learning.

All team members will receive the same grade for the company research project. The same for the two person facilitation project. In addition, both the quality of the content as well as the spirit of the contributions are significant variables in grading.

A+ = 99 to 100% Facilitator Project First Learning Opportunity, 50%
A = 94 to 98% Company Research Second Learning Opportunity, 30%
A- = 90 to 93% Third Learning Opportunity and Participation each 10%
B+ = 87 to 89%
B = 83 to 86%
B- = 80 to 82%
C+ = 76 to 79%
C = 73 to 75%
C- = 70 to 72%

A-, A and A+ means going beyond standard-doing more than what would be normally expected of an EMBA participant.

SCHEDULE

Introduction: Discussion of OD Consulting Intervention, Appreciative Inquiry
Deanna Anthony, Ch. 21 A New Strategy For Job Involvement (p. 636)

Third Learning Opportunity Report from all five teams

David Blain, Ch. 7 Active Listening (p. 208)
Active Listening Exercise

Visualization Revisited. An Exercise in Team Visualization

Richard Clark, Ch. 8 The Thinking Organization: How Patterns of Thought Determine
Organizational Culture (p. 244)
Paul Colella, Ch. 14 Coming to New Awareness of Organizational Culture (p. 427)

An Exercise in Force Field Analysis
Other Cultural Issues

Trina Rauscher-Cooper, Ch. 22 Why Change Programs Don’t Produce Change (p. 665)
Brian Dean, Ch. 22 Managing the Human Side of Change (p. 676)
Darlene Grant, Ch. 22 Rules of Thumb for Change Agents (p. 683)

ReginaJohnson, Ch. 9 Work Teams: Applications and Effectiveness (p. 268)
Salvatore Lazar, Ch. 9 Group Think Reconsidered (p. 251) Film

Matthew Lopiccolo, Ch. 13 Firms With a Superior Leadership Capacity: Practices that
Creat Better-Than-Everage.
Management Teams (p. 416)

Team I Second Learning Opportunity Report. Discussion, application
Gordon McCance, Ch. 14 Evolution and Revolution as Organizations Grow

Team II Second Learning Opportunity Report. Discussion and application
David Miskel, Ch. 13 – Four Competencies of Leadership (p. 395)

Team III Second Learning Opportunity Report. Discussion and application
Craig Niedermien, Ch. 13 Super Leadership: Beyond the Myth of Heroic Leadership
(p. 401)

Team IV Second Leadership Opportunity Report. Discussion, application
Sherry Ochmann, Ch. 16 The Leadership Challenge – A Call for Transformational
Leader (p. 476)

Team V Second Leadership Opportunity Report. Discussion, application
Patrick O’Connor, Ch. 12 Vive La Difference? Gender and Management in the New
Work Place (p. 366)

Rich Rawlinson, Ch. 12 The Multicultural Organization (p. 353)
First Learning Opportunity Reports

Ken Ressler, Ch. 11 Managing Conflict Among Groups (p. 317)
Intergroup Exercise

First Learning Opportunity Reports

First Learning Opportunity Reports

TEXTS:

No one book is adequate for the course. The expectation is that graduate students will consult many sources. Hence many books and videos are on reserve for you in the library. Please avail yourself of these marvelous resources. In addition, two texts are necessary for this course.

Organizational Behavior Reader, by Kolb, D., Osland, J., and Rubin, I
Sixth Edition, Prentice Hall, 1995

Maverick, Recardo Semler, Warner Books, 1993;

Expectations
Criteria for achieving high marks for participation

I expect each of you to:

- Change seats each class meeting. Make a point to sit next to all other 24 members of this
class organization.

- Be open and honest with me, your peers, and associates. Let me know what is going well
for you and what is not.

- Go out of your way to avoid obstacles with communications. If I am presenting an obstacle
to you or become a roadblock, let me know.

- Manage your area of responsibility in such a way as to positively contribute to the overall
class results as well as your personal goals and objectives. A gain for you at the expense of
someone else is a loss for the whole class. Teamwork is essential -- here is no room for
"gamesmanship" or "one up" stuff.

- Know what is going on in other EMBA classes as well as companies and organizations off
campus. Visit them and have them visit us-find out how they manage things-steal all the
ideas you can-network whenever possible. The greatest compliment you can give me as a
class facilitator is to bring friends to class.

- Keep me informed-verbally and with written material-Use your judgment about
frequency, methods, etc. I’ll let you know if it is meeting my needs.

- Provide me with feedback (included page 10) that indicates your ideas, feelings, progress.

- Do your best to solve problems. Do not present me with problems to solve; instead, develop
alternatives and act if possible. If you need my input, I am available to provide it. Use me as a
"sounding board"/coach.

- Involve your work team and associates, even family in planning, meeting challenges,
improvement, etc. They might know more about something than you do. Mix with first year
participants and Health Care EMBAs at lunch and dinner. Serve as mentors, show your
knowledge and experience.

- Assess how you are impacting this class-adding to it, treading water, or pulling us under.

- Help me and your class colleagues-volunteer and respond to requests.

- Plan to get together for drinks and conversation after class each Friday evening. Do not rush
to leave the company of your colleagues in this program.

- Also, helping others, whether manager, facilitator or colleague, is not "sucking up", but
networking and cooperative behavior designed to benefit the whole system.

- Continually strive to improve the quality and efficiency of the educational process. Constantly
ask yourself, "How can I learn more, better apply what I am learning, help others in the class
learn?

- Know all your class colleagues; find out what they need and expect from you; ask them to
evaluate you.

- Complete requests from me by the due date or negotiate other arrangements in advance of
the due date.

- Lead. If you see a lack of leadership by me or others, take the lead. It is not vested in me.
Be proactive rather than reactive.

- Expect a lot from your team, your class colleagues and yourself.

- Behave in ways that positively contribute to us being more human with each other; respect thedignity of each individual.

- Grow and help others grow. I am bored around people who are treading water. How are you a more valuable person this month than last – what have you learned, what skills have you improved, how are you better?

- Challenge me, I need to grow too!

- Have a lot of fun doing this work!