Details for Group and Organisational Behaviour

Organisations are groups of people working together for a purpose. Despite the pervasiveness of organisations in our modern society, effective group behaviour does not always come naturally. In fact, many goals are never achieved due to poor group dynamics rather than a lack of skills, vision or strategy. This unit will help students to develop an understanding of how an organisation can encourage effective, efficient, social and ethical behaviour; how leadership styles, organisational structure and value systems influence behaviour and how ultimately the group dynamics impact the effectiveness of the organisation in its pursuit of its purpose.

Quick Info

Currently offered by Alphacrucis: Yes
Unit code: LEA301
Credit points: 10
Total workload hours per week: 10
Number of timetabled hours per week: 3 *

* Note: Units with reduced contact hours (such as those taught in Intensive format) will have an increased assessment component.↩

Prerequisites

The following courses are prerequisites:

MAN205—People Management

The unit Group and Organisational Behaviour is part of the subject area Leadership and is offered as a part of the following Awards: Bachelor of Contemporary Ministry (Alphacrucis College (NSW Dept. of Education)).

Unit Content

Curriculum Objective

This unit is a study of the dynamics of individual and group behaviour and will encourage students to develop an understanding of how an organisation can encourage effective social and ethical behaviour. It covers traditional theoretical and recent developments arising out of psychology and sociology, different organisation structures, value systems and leadership styles which influence behaviour.

Subject Content

Historical perspectives on the philosophy of work
Behavioural aspects of organisational structure and design
The organization and the individual
Building and growing effective teams
Power and organisational politics
Leadership styles and organisational behaviour
Organisational culture and change
Common issues: stress, burn-out, conflict and cultural differences

This course may be offered in the following formats

Lectures, guided reading and reflection, group discussions and case studies

Please consult your course prospectus or enquire about how and when this course will be offered next at Alphacrucis College.

Assessment Methods

Minor Essay (25%, 1250 words); Major Essay (50%, 2500 words); Exam (25%)

Prescribed Text

Readings provided

Representative References

Argyris, Ch. Overcoming Organizational Defenses: Facilitating Organizational Learning. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1990.
Covey, S.R.The 7 habits of highly effective people: powerful lessons in personal change. rev. ed.New York: Free Press, 2004.
Hersey, P., Blanchard, K.H. and Johnson, D.E. Management of organizational behavior: leading human resources. 8^th ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 2001.
Katzenbach, J.R. and Smith, D.K. The wisdom of teams: creating the high-performance organization. Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 1993.
Luthans F. Organisational Behaviour. 7^th ed. New York/London:McGraw Hill, 1996.
McKenna, E.Business psychology and organisational behaviour: a student's handbook. 4^th ed. New York NY: Psychology Press, 2006.
Pettinger R.Introduction to Organisational Behaviour.London: MacMillan, 1996.
Robbins, S.P.Organizational behavior.11^th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2004.
Schein, E.H.Organizational culture and leadership. 3^rd ed. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2004