PADM 6100

Organizational Theory & Behavior

Spring 2017

Dr. Saundra J. RibandoOffice Hours: M 2:30-4;

Phone: 737-1710 TTH 1-2:30 or by appointment

E-mail:

Office: Allgood Hall, N310

What is this class about? This course introduces students to classic and modern ideas about organizational structure and how humans behave in group and organizational settings.

Learning Outcomes: This course is designed to assist you in mastering specific competencies identified by our accrediting body, the Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration and specific learning outcomes we have identified as being essential to your success. This course addresses:

NASPAA Competency / Student Learning Outcome
To lead and manage in public governance / Students will be able to
  1. identify key elements of one or more of the following: scientific management, organizational humanism, systems theory, and/or network management
  2. compare and contrast a given pair of leadership theories

Required texts:

Bolman, L. G. & T. E. Deal. (2013). Reframing organizations (5th edition). San Francisco, CA: John Wiley & Sons.

Johnson, S. (1998). Who moved my cheese? New York, NY: Penguin Putnam, Inc.

American Psychological Association. (2010). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (6th edition). Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association.

Make sure you complete the assigned readings listed for each given date BEFORE coming to class.

Expectations:The MPA is a professional degree. I expect my students to behave like aspiring professionals.

  • You can expect me to
  • Plan the course and adjust as needed
  • Give you feedback—both written and oral. I take assignments in this class seriously. Giving you timely, quality feedback is a top priority for me.
  • Bring my expertise, my experience, and my stories to the classroom. I encourage you to bring yours.
  • Treat you as an adult learner and aspiring professional—with the related style of respect and expectations about your performance and behavior.
  • I expect you to
  • Participate in class discussion, by speaking up and listening respectfully.
  • Complete your assignments, including the readings
  • Submit your assignments on time
  • Write clear, concise English that is free of grammar and spelling errors and conforms to the instructions provided. In short, I expect to receive from you the type of work you would be proud to hand to your supervisor at work.

Teaching Approach: I use a combination of short lectures, in-class and on-line discussion, and in-class exercises to teach this class. I do not "lecture the book." You are expected to read the assigned materials, and you will be tested on them, along with material in my lectures, in exams.

Class Policies:

Attendance: This is a professional degree program. Just as if this were a work environment, I expect you to be in class every night, on-time. If you cannot be in class or will be late, I expect you to e-mail me to notify me of that fact, and provide a reason for your absence/lateness.

Distractions: In today's world, everybody is electronically "connected" thru at least a cell phone. And the results can be seen as people constantly check their e-mail, instagram, facebook, or whatever else resides on their cell phone. But that behavior is extremely rude if you are doing it when others are talking or trying to communicate with you--including (perhaps especially) in the classroom. For one thing, it obviously means you are not “listening respectfully” (see expectations above) and could well be missing important information. Do your career a favor--break the habit of constantly checking your phone now. Make a habit of giving your full attention to other people. They will like and respect you MUCH more for your courtesy.

Plagiarism: For democratic government to work, the people must be able to trust government. This is why ethical behavior is so important for public administrators--and precisely why there will be no tolerance in this class for cheating in any form, including plagiarism. If I catch you deliberately plagiarizing in this class, I will assign you a grade of "F" for this class.

Assignment submissions: All assignments in this class will be submitted through D2L, in the appropriate dropbox. All submissions must be in word; use your first and last name as the file name. Graded papers will be returned to you through D2L. Papers that are not submitted in word will not be accepted.

Late assignments: I do not accept late assignments unless you have coordinated it with me in advance.

Laptops/tablets: You may bring laptops/tablets to class and use them to take notes. HOWEVER, if they become a distraction, I will revoke this privilege.

Eating and drinking in class: Eating and drinking is permitted in class.

Contacting me: Please feel free to contact me whenever you run into difficulty with the course material, or just need advice. My office phone and e-mail are listed at the beginning of the syllabus, along with my office hours. Office hours are periods where it is guaranteed you can meet with me in person—just drop in. If those hours are not convenient, contact me so we can set up an appointment. If you stop in at other times, there is no guarantee that I will be in the office or have time to work with you.

All other aspects of this course will follow the Pamplin Course Policies posted online at Please read them carefully, as they include important information about Academic Honesty, Disruptive Behavior, and Accommodations for Disabilities, Withdrawals, and other topics. By remaining in this course, you agree to abide by these policies.

Grading:

Exams: There will be three exams, on the dates shown in the timeline. All exams in this class are essays; essay questions will be given to you at least two weeks in advance of the due date. They are due at the beginning of class on the exam data and must be submitted through D2L.

In-class Discussion: Much of graduate education happens through the exchange of ideas in classroom discussion. Discussion, however, is only as good as the participants. Your prepared, respectful, and meaningful participation in class discussion will add immeasurably to the quality of the class--and will keep it lively, engaging, and interesting. Obviously, you have to speak up if you are to get any discussion grade other than "zero." But talking for the sake of talking will not be rewarded either. Discussion grades are based on both quality and quantity of participation.

On-line Discussion:The on-line discussion component is probably new to you. Roughly every two weeks, one topic will be added to the on-line discussion forum on the assigned reading material. This gives you the chance to voice your viewpoints on the assigned reading in a different way, with more of an applied focus. You are expected to post one comment that contributes meaningfully and respectfully to the discussion AND respond thoughtfully to at least one of your classmates' postings.

  • Your post should present your position on the topic.
  • You are expected to read ALL of your classmates’ contributions to the discussion; D2L does give me the tools to check and track this.
  • To be considered comments that “contribute meaningfully to the discussion,” your comments must 1) be atleast three paragraphs long (paragraph = at least three sentences), 2) takes a definite position on the question that was posed, and 3) offers an argument that supports your position.
  • Each paragraph must contain a link to at least one on-line article (factual article, NOT AN EDITORIAL or a BLOG) that relates to the topic and one reference to the assigned readings for a minimum of two sources provided for each paragraph submitted.
  • To keep this simple, for citations simply put the URL in parenthesis to cite an on-line source. For references to your assigned readings, use the standard APA style format. NO REFERENCE LIST REQUIRED.
  • “Respectful” means courteous, not politically correct. In other words, you may be as passionate as you like on the topic, and are encouraged to post rebuttals of your classmates’ argument, but you never have the right to insult your classmates.
  • All posts must be submitted by 6PM on the dates indicated in the general timeline.
  • A sample is included after the general timeline.

Literature Review Paper: The literature review paper is a chance for you to get more familiar with one specific aspect of organizational theory and behavior. Each student will select a unique topic and write a 10-12 page paper on that topic. More information on this assignment is provided in the instruction sheet located on D2L.

Item / Points / Total points
Exams / 150 per exam / 450
On-line discussion / 30 per post / 180
Literature review paper
Paper
Presentation / 200
100 / 200
100
Discussion / 70
Total / 1000

General Timeline

Date / Topic / Assignment
1/9 / Introduction to the class
The great questions (lecture)
Exercise & discussion
1/16 / MLK Holiday
1/23 / Framing and reframing in complex organizations
Exercise & discussion / Read Ch. 1 & 2 in Bolman & Deal; Who Moved My Cheese?
1/30 / On-line discussion
2/6 / The structural frame
Effective communication & structure (lecture)
Exercise and discussion / Read Ch. 3-5
2/13 / Exam 1 due
On-line discussion
2/20 / The human resource frame
Leadership and ethics (lecture)
Exercise and discussion / Read Ch. 6-8
2/27 / On-line discussion
3/6 / The political frame
Conflict and conflict resolution (lecture)
Exercise and discussion / Read Ch. 9-11
3/13 / Exam 2 due
On-line discussion
3/20 / The symbolic frame
Organizational culture and change (lecture)
Exercise and discussion / Read Ch. 12-14
3/27 / On-line discusion
4/4 / Spring break—no class
4/10 / Applying what you’ve learned
Exercise and discussion / Read Ch. 15-17
4/17 / Exam 3 due
On-line discussion
4/24 / Presentations
5/1 / Presentations

Sample On-line Discussion

Original Post: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's use of personal e-mail to conduct public business has been widely criticized. Was her use of personal e-mail, and her own personal server, unethical? Should government employees (at any level) be permitted to use personal e-mail to conduct government business? If so, why? If not, why not?

Sample Response:

I believe that while it was not necessarily unethical for Hilary Clinton to use her personal email because it was policy, I do believe it was unethical for Hilary Clinton (and her staff) to determine what was work related and what was not before releasing emails to the State Department ( It disconcerts me how much control she had, regardless of her intent. And to be clear, I do not believe her intent was to be devious. John Wonderlich from the Sunlight Foundation made an interesting point about how “the final arbiter of what’s public or what’s turned over to Congress shouldn’t be private staff working for Hilary Clinton. It should be State Department employees who are bound by duty to the public interest” ( I find that I agree with this quote, particularly as it fits with our reading in Svara (2015) about public administrators being defenders of procedural fairness and the democratic process. While Hilary has asked that her emails be released to the public, she acted as arbiter before providing emails. She was legally and technically compliant, yet she sidestepped full transparency and acted in self-interest, which seems unethical to me. Svara (2015) says “public administrators have the responsibility to share information with the public and ensure transparency” (42), and that public administrators must avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest so that the integrity of the organizational process is preserved (35). The standard for public administrators is extremely high, but Svara (2015) defends it by adding, “In view of the high level of cynicism that the public feels about government…public administrators should feel a special obligation to act in such a way as to strengthen the integrity of the process” (Svara, 35, 2015). Hilary Clinton could have used this as an opportunity to strengthen the integrity of the State Department’s process by turning over all her emails so that they could sort private and public information to be released. She also could have used it as an opportunity to defend the democratic process which created laws that are being applied to her, such as the Federal Records Act, the Freedom of Information Act, and Section 1924 of Title 18 (criminal and penal code dealing with classified information) (

Hilary Clinton has attempted to point fingers at disagreement between agencies on security classification ( She has also argued that she was just doing what policy and precedent permitted ( Hilary’s “cog in the wheel” defense is not working, mostly because the general public does not buy into the prinicipal-agent model anymore than Svara (2015) does. I think she was right to admit that use of her private email was a mistake, but her argument about adhering to State Department policy seems, to me, an avoidance tactic. She’s dodging the issue of whether or not its use was ethical.

The entire debate about Hilary Clinton’s use of a personal email account is downplaying an important discussion about policy. Very few people are discussing whether or not the State Department’s policy (or governmental policy at large) permitting personal email use is ethical in and of itself. Public administrators themselves are not the only representatives of the public. Agencies like the State Department are still accountable to the people because they are created and run by public administrators; thus they are as responsible for defending transparency, the democratic process, and procedural fairness as discussed by Svara (2015). I do not believe public administrators at any level should use their personal emails to conduct government business. I think this is a discussion that should be occurring (maybe even more so than a discussion of Hilary Clinton’s personal application of the policy) because agencies dealing with classified information already have policies in place to account for the occurrence known as “spillage”. Spillage is the government term for accidental or inadvertent release of classified information into an unclassified system. They know it happens! They accept that it happens frequently enough to have policies and procedures to clean up after it occurs. Agencies recognize that classified information is shared inadvertently regardless of precautions taken, especially with positions like Secretary of State. The NSA’s policies on spillage involve sanitizing contaminated systems, which was not done with Hilary Clinton’s email server ( Nor have I read about previous Secretaries of State having their personal emails sanitized as a precaution against spillage. Secretary Kerry is apparently the first to only use a state.gov email ( Additionally, how many government employees are sending and receiving information that is, or will be, classified information over their personal accounts? This is troubling to me because it seems to be an issue of security based on a flawed, government-wide policy that is almost entirely disregarded due to Hilary Clinton’s potential presidential candidacy. Another article talks about how easy it would have likely been for hackers to access Hilary’ Clinton’s email account ( If she is the first to ever use a private email server, what could have been hacked while other Secretaries used personal emails for convenience that were part of public servers? And if lower level government employees are using their personal email accounts how would the NSA possibly be able to sanitize everyone’s personal email to prevent hacking and sanitize after spillage? How would anyone know spillage was occurring if most government business is being conducted on personal emails? The government has in place, classified and unclassified email systems. The structure for tighter security exists, yet I believe the structure is not being appropriately implemented. At the very least, if every government employee conducts government business on two systems, the ability to sanitize when spillage occurs or check for hackers is infinitely simplified. Agencies will only have to check two systems. It also allows for greater transparency and easier acquisition for procedural process.