Main topics of study:

Communication & Perception:

• Interpersonal Communication
• Perception
• Non-Verbal Communication

Motivation:

• Motives as Goals of Human Behaviour
• Motives as Individual Decision-Making Processes
• Social Process of Motivating Others
• Empowerment

Learning:

• Learning Process
• Behaviourist Approach to Learning
• Cognitive Approach to Learning
• Behaviour Modification Techniques
• Socialisation & Feedback

Personality:

• Definition
• Personality Types & Traits
• Stress & its Management
• Development of the Self
• Nomothetic & Idiographic
• Psychometrics

Group Formation:

• Group Level Analysis of Organisational Behaviour
• Historical Background to Study of Groups
• Concept of a Group
• Formal & Informal Groups
• Homans Theory of Group Formation
• Stages of Group Development

Group Structure & Process:

• Group Structure
• Status Structure
• Power Structure
• Linking Structure
• Role Structure
• Group Structure & Group Process
• Leadership Structure
• Communication Structure

Group Control:

• Group Influences on Individuals’ Motivations
• Group Influences on Individuals’ Perceptions
• Group Socialisation of Members
• Group Influences on Individuals’ Attitudes & Behaviours
• Conformity to & Rebellion Against Authority

Group Effectiveness:

• Effectiveness, Productivity & Satisfaction
• Factors Affecting Group Behaviour
• Making Groups Perform
• Group Cohesion

Organisation Structure:

• Structural Perspective
• Elements of Organisation Structure
• Types of Job
• Line, Staff & Functional Structures
• Formal & Informal Organisations
• Designing Organisation Structure
• Centralisation & Decentralisation

Scientific Management:

• Taylorism
• Gilbreth
• Gantt
• Fordism

Bureaucracy & Roles:

• Organisational Structuring
• Rules
• Roles
• Bureaucracy or Adhocracy

Classical Management Theory:

• Henri Fayol
• Applicability of Theory
• Modern Classical Management Theory

Contingency Approach:

• Contingency & Organisational Structure
• Determinism Versus Strategic Choice
• Technological Determinism
• Environmental Determinism
• Strategic Choice
• Environmental Strategic Choice

Organisational Change:

• The Contemporary Imperative
• Project Management & Participative Management
• Resistance to Change
• Understanding Change
• Business Process Re-Engineering
• Change Agent

Organisation Development:

• Goals & Processes
• Levels & Models of Intervention
• OD Techniques
• OD Applications
• OD Consultant

Corporate Culture:

• Rise of Corporate Culture Concept
• Models of Corporate Culture
• Corporate Culture & Economic Performance
• Changing Cultures
• Corporate Culture & Management Control
• National Cultures

Technology & Change:

• Definitions & Predictions
• Determinism or Choice
• Politics of Technology
• Characteristics of Mass Production
• Socio-Technical Systems Analysis & Design
• Competing Socio-Technical Paradigms
• Advanced Technology & the Changing Nature of Work

Leadership & Management Style:

• Functions of Leaders & Managers
• Leaders as Special People
• Leaders & Followers
• Context
• Culture
• Changing Leadership Style

Managing Conflict:

• Perspectives on Organisational Conflict
• Functional & Dysfunctional Conflict
• Coordination & Conflict

Organisational Power & Politics:

• Organisations – Rational or Political
• Organisational Politics
• Organisational Power
• Power & Influence

Management Control:

• Perspectives on Management Control
• Nature of Management Control Mechanisms
• Strategies & Problems of Management Control
• Psychological Need for Control
• Social Control

Reading List

Main Text:

Organisational Behaviour: An Introductory Text – David Buchanan & Andrej Huczynski (Prentice Hall)

Alternative Texts and Further Reading:

Management and Organisational Behaviour – Laurie J Mullins (Prentice Hall)