Year
2024Credit points
10Campus offering
Prerequisites
Nil
Incompatible
HRMG204 Organisational Behaviour
Unit rationale, description and aim
Achieving sustainable organisational outcomes in the global context requires effective management of organisations operating in a highly competitive global marketplace. If students are able to do this, they will need knowledge and understanding of the complexities of managing individual employees, group and teams, organisational culture and structure of global organisations. In this unit, students will be able to develop their knowledge of management of multi-cultural workforce including expatriates and operating a business in culturally distinct environments. Working in a global environment increases the diversity of the workforce and enables students to focus on the dignity of the individuals within this workforce and management of global teams.
The aim of this unit is to provide knowledge and understanding of management in a highly competitive global marketplace and to develop the understanding and skills necessary to analyse organisational behavioural global management problems and generate realistic solutions to achieve sustainable business outcomes.
Learning outcomes
To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.
Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.
Explore the graduate capabilities.
| Learning Outcome Number | Learning Outcome Description | Relevant Graduate Capabilities |
|---|---|---|
| LO1 | Identify the key organisational behaviour theories, concepts and approaches in real world situations to ensure that all persons have inherent worth and are treated with dignity | GC1, GC2, GC7 |
| LO2 | Apply using ethical perspectives the determinants of individual behaviour, group and team dynamics and their impact on effective teams | GC2, GC4, GC7 |
| LO3 | Evaluate a range of organisational, group, interpersonal or individual behavioural issues which may impact on the achievement of sustainable organisational outcomes | GC1, GC2, GC4, GC7, GC8, GC11, GC12 |
| LO4 | Apply effective written and oral communication skills both individually and in groups | GC11, GC12 |
Content
Topics will include:
- What is organisational behaviour?
- Values and attitudes
- Perception
- Personality
- Managing emotions in the workplace
- Group behaviour and work team dynamics
- Multicultural workforce and diversity
- Individual and group decision-making and ethics
- Understanding power and organisational politics
- Organisational culture and change
- Future trends in organisational behaviour.
Learning and teaching strategy and rationale
This unit takes an active learning approach to guide students in the development of knowledge associated with organisational behaviour. Students are able to explore the knowledge base underpinning organisational behaviour s in a series of on campus workshops. These workshops are designed to support students to actively participate in the development of this knowledge both individually and in groups. By participating in these workshops, students will systematically develop their understanding of the critical aspects of organisational behaviour and how to design responsible solutions to organisational behaviour scenarios. This unit takes an experiential approach to support students in developing the skills required to effectively manage organisational behaviour by sharing stories and insights and reflecting on experiences. This approach is designed to interest students who prefer to learn within a social environment and builds in expert support for skills development. The rationale is to encourage deep learning instead of surface or rote learning, as deep learning will develop critical thinking skills and prepare you for competitive business and non-business environments.
A variety of learning materials (real-life examples, case studies from current issues relating to the theory and practice of consumer behaviour, journal articles, videos, lecture capture) will be used. Deep learning is likely to be fully realised as students are exposed to this variety of learning tasks.
Mode of delivery: This unit is offered mainly in ‘Attendance mode’ with aspects of ‘Multi-mode’ incorporated into the delivery to maximise the learning support offered to students. Students will be required to attend face-to-face workshops in specific physical location/s and have face-to-face interactions with teaching staff to further their achievement of the learning outcomes. This unit is also structured with some required upfront preparation before workshops – learning materials and tasks set via online learning platforms. This will provide multiple forms of preparatory and practice opportunities for students to prepare and revise.
Further to this, to ensure students are ready to transition from the Diploma and articulate into the second year of undergraduate study, transition pedagogies will be incorporated into the unit as the key point of differentiation from the standard unit. This focuses on an active and engaging approach to learning and teaching practices, and a scaffolded approach to the delivery of curriculum to enhance student learning in a supportive environment. This will ensure that students develop foundation level discipline-based knowledge, skills and attributes, and simultaneously the academic competencies required of students to succeed in this unit.
Assessment strategy and rationale
In order to pass this unit, students are required to achieve an aggregate mark of at least 50%. Marking will be in accordance with a rubric specifically developed to measure student level of achievement of the learning outcomes for each item of assessment. Students will also be awarded a final grade which signifies their overall achievement in the Unit.
The assessment strategy for this unit allows students to sequentially develop knowledge and skills of organisational behaviour to the point where they can develop responsible solutions to resolve various organisational behaviour issues. To develop this level of capability, students will demonstrate their knowledge of organisational behaviour through engagement-led discussions and activities focusing on the trends related to organisational behaviour (Assessment 1) and further develop their understanding through an industry-based presentation (Assessment 2), and then apply their knowledge and understanding to analyse an organisational behaviour case and provide responsible solutions and recommendations in the final assessment task.
Strategies aligned with transition pedagogies will be utilised to facilitate successful completion of the unit assessment tasks. For each assessment, there will be the incorporation of developmentally staged tasks with a focus on a progressive approach to learning. This will be achieved through activities, including regular feedback, particularly early in the unit of study to support their learning; strategies to develop and understand discipline-specific concepts and terminology; in-class practice tasks with integrated feedback; and greater peer-to-peer collaboration.
Overview of assessments
| Brief Description of Kind and Purpose of Assessment Tasks | Weighting | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|
Assessment 1: Discussion Board and Reflective Report This assessment focusses on the level co-creation of value by students whether on campus or online. Students will be assessed based on their continuous engagement and collaborative participation to the unit via a range of methods including, but not limited to tasks, activities, and discussions. Submission Type: Individual Assessment Method: Written evidence of value co-creation Artefact: Assessor generated summary as per rubric | 30% | LO1, LO3 |
Assessment 2: Industry-based Group Presentation and Peer Review This assessment requires students to critically analyse respect of the human dignity and human diversity implications when applying organisational behaviour theories, concepts and approaches that contribute to organisational effectiveness and efficiency. Groups will compare employee support advised by organisations and the reality of this within the organisation via employee feedback sites including Fair Work. Violation of OB theory is the focus. This is a 5-minute presentation of research findings. Assessment Type: Group Assessment method: Industry-based presentation Artefact: Presentation | 30% | LO2, LO4 |
Assessment 3: Organisational Problem Analysis Report This assessment task consists of a 1750-word report requiring students to apply and evaluate the theories, models and concepts from this unit to develop and present a recommendation on an organisational behaviour issue. Students will be required to examine how organisational behavioural factors contribute to real life organisational success or failure in the context of stewardship and solidarity. Assessment Type: Individual Assessment method: Organisational problem analysis Artefact: Written report | 40% | LO3, LO4 |
Representative texts and references
Griffin, R, Phillips, J & Gully, S 2019, Organizational Behavior: Managing People and Organizations, 13th edn, Cengage.
McShane, S, Olekalns, M, Newman, A & Martin, A 2019, Organisational Behaviour: Emerging Knowledge. Global Insights, McGraw-Hill Education, Australia.
Robbins, SP, Judge TA, Edwards, M, Sandiford, P & Fitzgerald, M 2019, Organisational behaviour 9th edn, Pearson Education Australia, Frenchs Forest, NSW.
Wood, JM, Zeffane, RM, Fromholtz, M, Wiesner, R, & Morrison RR 2019, Organisational Behaviour Core Concepts and Applications, 5th edn Australasian, John Wiley & Sons Australia, Melbourne.
Academic journal articles:
Carvalho, AM, Sampaio, P, Rebentisch, E, Carvalho, JA & Saraiva P 2019, ‘Operational excellence, organisational culture and agility: the missing link?’ Total quality management & business excellence, vol. 30, no. 13–14, pp. 1495–1514, viewed 21 January 2022, <doi.org/10.1080/14783363.2017.1374833>.
Ding, H & Yu, E 2022, ‘How and when does follower’s strengths-based leadership contribute to follower work engagement? The roles of strengths use and core self-evaluation’, German Journal of Human Resource Management, vol. 36, no. 2, pp. 180–196, viewed 16 June 2022, <doi.org/10.1177/23970022211053284>.
Elsbach, KD & Stigliani, I 2018, ‘Design Thinking and Organizational Culture: A Review and Framework for Future Research’, Journal of Management, vol. 44 no. 6, pp. 2274–2306, viewed 21 January 2022, <doi.org/10.1177/0149206317744252>.
Harris, EG, Harris, EG, Fleming, DE & Fleming, DE 2017, ‘The productive service employee: personality, stress, satisfaction and performance’, Journal of Services Marketing, vol. 31, no. 6, pp. 499–511, viewed 24 January 2022, <doi.org/10.1108/JSM-11-2015-0347>.
Liu, N-T, Chen S-C & Lee W-C 2021, ‘How does moral identity promote employee voice behavior? The roles of work engagement and leader secure-base support’, Ethics & behavior, vol. 32, no. 5, pp. 1–19, viewed 16 June 2022, <doi.org/10.1080/10508422.2021.1923498>.
Mitchell, M. S. et al. 2020, ‘The study of behavioral ethics within organizations: A special issue introduction’, Personnel psychology, vol. 73, no. 1, pp. 5–17, viewed 16 June 2022, <doi.org/10.1111/peps.12381>.
Schlaile, MP, Bogner, K & Muleder, L 2021, ‘It’s more than complicated! Using organizational memetics to capture the complexity of organizational culture’, Journal of business research, vol. 129, pp. 801–812, viewed 21 January 2022, <doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.09.035>.
Smollan, RK & Morrison, RL 2019, ‘Office design and organizational change: The influence of communication and organizational culture’, Journal of organizational change management, vol. 32, no. 4, pp. 426–440, viewed 21 January 2022, <doi.org/10.1108/JOCM-03-2018-0076>.
Spicer, A 2020, ‘Organizational Culture and COVID‐19’, Journal of management studies, vol. 57, no. 8, pp. 1737–1740, viewed 21 January 2022, <doi.org/10.1111/joms.12625>.
Yaari, M, Blit-Cohen, E & Savaya, R 2021, ‘Hybrid Organizational Culture: The Case of Social Enterprises’, Journal of social entrepreneurship, vol. 12, no. 2, pp. 291–313, viewed 25 January 2022, <doi.org/10.1080/19420676.2019.1702581>.
Academic journals
- International Journal of cross-cultural management
- Journal of applied Ethics
- Journal of HRM
- Journal of Leadership in Organisations (2019–)
- Journal of management
- Journal of minority achievement, creativity, and leadership
- Journal of Organisational Behaviour
- Journal of Organizational Behaviour Management
- Journal of Productivity and Performance Management