SMO 310
Introduction to Management
Instructor Course Section
Professor Chris Steele Office: Bus 2-32G Hours: By appointment Email: [email protected]
Winter 2019 Section J3 MW 15:00 – 16:20
BUS 2-05
Required Textbook
Williams, Champion, Hall. (2018) MGMT: Principles of Management.
Nelson Education. 3rd Canadian Edition.
The MGMT text (and the MindTap supplement) is available new in one of two formats:
1. Hardcopy MGMT text with printed access card (6-Months) for MindTap ISBN: 9780176823283 List: $99.95
2. Stand-alone access to MindTap supplement (with eBook version of MGMT) List: $79.95
Please note: You should be able to access MindTap (the online supplement to the text) for a 2-week free trial at the beginning of the term. This will give you the opportunity to explore MindTap and test it out. It also means that you will have access
to your course materials on Day 1, even if you are unable to purchase the text right away.
To access MindTap, you just need to click the following link and either sign in or create a new account: https://login.cengagebrain.com/course/MTPPDQ9NZ582. The
course key is: MTPP-DQ9N-Z582.
MindTap provides a copy of the textbook, along with additional activities and practice questions that will help you test your understanding of the chapters. Please note: (i)
these activities are not compulsory, or graded, and (ii) I develop my own questions for the exams, which are not modelled on the MindTap questions (i.e.
the MindTap questions should aid revision, but will not serve as an effective practice exam).
ALBERTA SCHOOL OF BUSINESS STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT AND ORGANANIZATION
Course Overview
COURSE OBJECTIVES
This course is designed to provide you with tools to make sense of organizational life, and get things done in organizations. We will explore major topics in management and organization, including strategy-making, organizational change and culture, leadership, motivation, and power and politics. Classes will give an overview of theory and research, with plenty of chances for interactive discussions and case study. By the end of the course, you should:
− Know a set of useful frameworks for understanding organizational life, and getting things done in organizations – from specific projects to major organizational changes.
− Have a sense of the theory and research underpinning these frameworks, which will help you understand when they will tend to work best, and when they might break down.
− Be better attuned to the variety of organizations, and to variations in organizational goals, stakeholders, structures, and cultures.
− Have learnt some new tools for persuading peers and clients – both through the content of the course, and through the discussions and presentations.
− Be more aware of how organizations shape your thinking and behaviour, and increasingly reflexive about your own assumptions and understandings.
The textbook will provide you with the core ideas of the course, and it will usually be advisable to have read the assigned chapter ahead of each class. Discussions in class will go beyond the textbook – e.g. by exploring the limits of the key frameworks, and introducing new findings and themes from the field. For this reason, if one of the classes is missed, I recommend you talk with your classmates to help you catch up on the extra ground we covered that day.
IN-CLASS EXPECTATIONS
Pedagogical approach: Most classes will be lecture-based, with numerous opportunities for interactive discussion. We will also have two classes dedicated entirely to case studies, which will be almost entirely discussion-based. Beside the textbook, only the two sessions based on case studies will require prior readings, and these will be made available via ULearn.
Attendance & Class Notes: Given the exams will be based only on the material covered in class, I would strongly encourage you to attend as many sessions as possible, and to take your own notes – using the slides as a starting point. This consideration aside, please come to class whenever you can and wish to; if you are delayed, please come in late, as it will not be a distraction; if you need to leave early for an appointment, that is fine.
Slides & Notes: I will post a set of PowerPoint slides to ULearn before each class – in order to enhance the class experience, however, these slides will often be incomplete (e.g. they will exclude my thoughts on our discussion questions). A complete slide deck will then be posted to ULearn after each class. I suggest that you use the original deck as a basis for your notes, and then copy in any missing content from the updated set of slides. Please note that my slides – incomplete or complete – are intended to build on the textbook, to prompt discussion, and to anchor your own notes; they are unlikely to be sufficient, in isolation, for your revision.
Food & Drink: Please feel free to bring food or drink to class. However, I would ask that you be considerate of your classmates and myself and not bring excessively distracting forms of nourishment. Foods that crunch loudly, or can be smelt from a great distance, can interfere with the learning process; so please be considerate as you select your snacks.
Course Grading
There are eight sections of SMO 310. The course is coordinated so that each section uses the same textbook, has a multiple-choice midterm worth 30%, a non-cumulative multiple- choice final exam worth 35%, individual student work worth 10%, and group work worth 25%.
Each section has its own exams. Instructors are asked to have a mean final grade of 3.0 for each section, with each grade reflecting absolute and relative performance. The course grade is determined from several components, which are each given a fixed weight. These weights are the same across all sections of SMO310. Below, I provide details on each assignment, and their respective deadlines.
Assignments, Weights and Due Dates
Individual Assignments (75%) Weight Due Date
Participation 5 % Jan 07 – Apr 08
Practice Cover Letter 2 % Jan 21, in class
Midterm Exam 30 % Feb 11, in class
Personal Development Plan 3 % Apr 08, in class
Final Exam 35 % TBC
Group Assignments (25%) Weight Due Date
Project Plan 5 % Feb 27, in class
Oral Presentation 20 % Mar 25 – Apr 03
Individual Assignments
PARTICIPATION
Participation will count for 5% of your total grade. Joining the discussions in class is one of the best ways to learn to apply course frameworks to practical problems, and is an important way to help the class grapple with key concepts and ideas. It is appreciated. Please take time off from texting, tweeting, etc. during the class, as this can disrupt the session, and the discussion. To help make sure your participation is taken into account, I will distribute an informal survey after several randomly selected classes, throughout the term. I will ask you to describe how you think you contributed during this class, or in recent classes, and to provide examples of your participation. At the end of the semester, I will use the results of these surveys as a central means of assigning your grade.
PRACTICE COVER LETTER
Your practice cover letter is due, in paper form, in class on January 21st. It is worth 2% of your final grade. Cover letters are an important part of the job application process. They offer a key opportunity to introduce yourself to a potential employer in a favourable light, and to ensure that your application is seriously considered. At the beginning of the course, I will ask you to write and submit a practice cover letter – giving you the opportunity to develop your skills in this regard, and to produce a template that you can use for future job applications.
Choose a position that you think you may realistically apply for over the next few years – a real job, in a specific organization. If you don’t have any specific organizations already in mind, or are concerned about privacy, choose a real job in a related organization, in an industry of interest – one which you think would require a similar kind of cover letter to organizations you are likely to consider in the future. Write a cover letter introducing yourself and articulating why you would be a good fit for this position, and for the specific organization. If you already have a cover letter prepared, you are welcome to submit that, rather than a new letter – but please do treat this assignment as an opportunity to reflect and improve upon your original version.
The University of Alberta Careers Services provide helpful suggestions for writing a cover letter, which you can find here: https://www.ualberta.ca/career-centre/resources/cover-letters.
On the same webpage, you can find a link to ‘a basic outline of a cover letter’. Please use this outline as a checklist, to ensure that you have done everything you need to do.
This assignment will be graded complete/incomplete. Completion of the assignment is worth the full 2%. Please note: Assignments that substantially deviate from the checklist provided by Careers Services, i.e. which are significantly too short or too long, or inappropriate in tone, will be graded incomplete.
MULTIPLE-CHOICE EXAMS
There will be two closed-book exams, composed of multiple choice questions. Together, these exams will make up 65% of your total grade (Midterm: 30%; Final: 35%). Questions for these exams may be based on any material covered in the lectures, including the concepts and frameworks used in the case discussions (but not the concrete details of the cases).
The midterm exam will cover material through that point in the course. The final exam will be based entirely on material covered after the midterm. The midterm will be held during our normal class time. The final exam will be held at the time scheduled by the University during finals. A missed midterm exam will be made up at the time of the final exam by writing a separate midterm makeup. Please bring a #2 pencil for each exam.
Practice questions for the exams will be provided in class, during the two ‘review sessions’.
PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN
Your personal development plan is due, in paper form, in class on April 8th. It is worth 3% of your final grade. Often, a focus on immediate problems and next steps can distract people from longer-term planning: both in organizations, and in everyday life. The purpose of this assignment is to give you an opportunity to step back and reflect on your personal goals, objectives, and next steps – making use of the tools for planning and strategy-making that you have learned during this course, as well as other course materials, if you so wish. Though these tools are primarily concerned with aiding the design, management, and navigation of organizations, they provide a useful set of resources for individual planning as well.
This is your plan, and you should go about it in the most productive way you can. I would suggest, however, that you undertake at least the following four steps. First, think about your core motivations and goals – the things that define what you want to achieve, and who you want to be. Second, think about how these goals and motivations could be translated into more specific, measurable, aggressive, realistic and time-bound objectives. Third, consider how your existing resources and capabilities fit with these objectives, and what additional resources and capabilities you might need to develop. Fourth, don’t forget to think about whether your current resources and capabilities might open alternative paths – and to consider whether these alternatives might be personally rewarding; perhaps even more rewarding than your current plans!
The plan should be no longer than 3 pages, single-spaced, in Times New Roman 12pt font.
It will be graded as follows: 3% for plans that show a really sustained effort to reflect and plan ahead, 2% for complete but less developed plans, and 0% for plans that are incomplete.
Group Assignments
GROUP FORMATION
Over the past few decades there has been dramatic increase in the use of teams and groups within organizations. As such, learning how to work effectively in groups is an increasingly important skill. For this reason, one of your major assignments will be a phased group project.
On January 9th you will be assigned to your formal group. Please note that, on assignment to a team, you are committed to working with them. If your fellow team members fire you from the group, you will have an individual project due at the time of the final exam, instead of participating in the group project. This is not encouraged. Please take the time to meet and work together as a group; this should make the process both more productive, and more fun.
GROUP PROJECT
Each team will develop, and give, a 15-minute in-class presentation. This presentation will: (a) articulate a guiding question, which the team believes to be of significance to managers, or to other organizational stakeholders (such as employees, or policy-makers); (b) remind the class of what they should already know about this topic, given the class materials, (c) show some clips from a movie, TV series, or documentary, of the team’s choice, which are surprising, given what we know, and articulate why what we see is surprising; (d) provide a well-justified explanation of why we see this surprise, and (e) tell us what lessons, or insights, we should take away from this, practically speaking. All these points are developed in more detail below.
Please note that any given movie or show can only be used by one team. Choices will be approved on a first-come-first-served basis, so you might want to identify some potential options as soon as possible after forming your group. Please note, also, that the clips shown must be in good taste.
Here are some important pointers for you to consider, as you get started:
(a) Think about a question that matters to managers, or to other organizational stakeholders.
This question could be quite simple (e.g. how do we motivate people effectively?), or more complex (e.g. how does organizational culture influence the effectiveness of a specific motivational tactic?). Make sure that your chosen question is likely to be significant for you or your peers in the future, even if the clips you are considering are dramatic, exaggerated, or surreal. In your presentation, you will try and help us answer this question better than we already can. This question will be the title of your presentation.
(b) After you have chosen your question, think about how you would answer it based on the materials we have covered in class. Given the time constraints of the presentation, you will not be able to cover everything that could possibly be relevant – so think about what framework, or perhaps which two frameworks, are most relevant to your chosen question, and what they tell us. Ultimately, you will need to tell the class a few things about your chosen question that are interesting and surprising, given what we already know, based on your analysis of your selected clip(s). For this to be effective, you will want to make sure that you have chosen frameworks that clearly highlight the surprise – and that you are not ignoring frameworks that could easily explain it…
(c) Choose some clips from your chosen show that present us with a surprise, in the light of what we already know about your question, and, particularly, in the light of the frameworks you have selected. So, for example, we may know that motivational tactic A is usually very effective. However, your clip shows motivational tactic A failing. Make sure that you explain clearly why what we see should surprise us!
(d) You will then want to explain why we see this surprise – why things happen as they do, in the clips you presented. Make sure you not only provide a clear explanation, but that this explanation is clearly justified based on the clips, or on additional background details about the show that you have already provided. You may wish to draw upon additional class concepts to convincingly explain why the surprise unfolds as it does. Thus, for example, you might argue that motivational tactic A often works, show that it does not work in your clip, and then argue that this is because the motivational tactic conflicts with the prevailing organizational culture; illustrating this with details from the clips, or from the show.
(e) The insights are the end product of your analysis, and, in some ways, the most important part of your presentation. Insights describe things that your analysis tells us that we did not already know, and that are likely to be of practical use. Building on our example above, for instance, one insight of your analysis might be that motivational tactic A should only be used in cultures of type X, and that other motivational tactics, like B, are more likely to work in cultures of type Y.
(f) Please think carefully about the fit between your question, and your clips. Make sure that your clips really relate to your chosen question, and help you develop some insights. Think carefully, as well, about whether you have chosen a question that is sufficiently broad to be interesting, but sufficiently specific to be manageable.
An in-class presentation will be your opportunity to showcase your work. Each team will have 15 minutes to present. Most of the time should be used to present your analysis and insights;
your clips should not take up more than 3-5 minutes of your presentation.
PROJECT PLAN (5%)
To make sure that you and your team are on a productive path, each team will submit a project plan in advance; giving me the opportunity to offer feedback and guidance. The project plan is intended to help your group ensure that you are on the path to a successful group project.
The plan should be 4-6 pages in length, in 12-point Times New Roman font, single-spaced.
You may have 1-2 pages of appendices, for useful figures/diagrams. It is due in hardcopy format, in class, on February 27th, and is worth 5% of your final grade. I will assess:
- Introduction (no more than 1 page, 20% of grade). You should: (a) explain what broad question you have chosen, and why it is important; (b) provide a brief overview of what we know about this topic, focussing on the key points; (c) explain what show and clip(s) you have selected, and why they are relevant – explaining, in the process, the surprise that is found in your clips; (d) provide a brief summary of your explanation of this surprise, and the key insights you propose; and (e) explain what you will do in the remainder of the plan.
- Background (no more than 1 page, 20% of grade). Elaborate on your overview of what we know, and explain in more depth why this is not an adequate basis for understanding your clip. Make sure that you provide a clear summary of the most relevant framework(s), explaining why they are the most relevant frameworks, and what we would expect to see based on those frameworks. Make sure that you clearly articulate what we see, in your clip, that would surprise us – and that does not fit with these frameworks.
- Insights (no more than 1 page, 20% of grade): Set out your explanation regarding why things do not happen as our frameworks would suggest. Make sure that this explanation is clearly set out, and well justified – with reference to the clip, and, probably, with reference to other concepts (e.g. we see A instead of B because of the influence of the specific
organizational culture). Set out the key practical insights - explaining how your analysis should change and enhance our current answer to your chosen question.
- Plan (1-3 pages, 20% of grade). Explain (a) what tasks need to be completed, and when, in order for your group project to be successful, (b) who has been assigned to which tasks, why, and (c) what performance metrics you will use to judge their success or failure, and to make sure that the project remains on track. Make use of the SMART framework, which we will cover in class, to develop specific, measurable, aggressive, realistic, and time- bound objectives – assigned to the team as a whole, or to specific team-members.
Consider presenting a graphical timeline of key objectives and tasks.
- Structure and Style (20% of grade). These points are awarded when the plan (a) flows, logically, (b) is clearly and engagingly written, (c) is consistently and appropriately formatted, and (d) makes use of helpful appendices (e.g. a chart describing the organization of the team, or the flow of objectives).
PROJECT PRESENTATION (20%)
Based on your project plan, and the resultant feedback, your team will then develop a deck of slides based on your analysis, which you will present in class on one of the assigned presentation days. This is worth taking seriously: the ability to make convincing, clear arguments is an important skill in business and elsewhere. This particular presentation should introduce your audience to the clip, and should be carefully constructed around your chosen topics and insights. The format is flexible, but I would suggest that you perform all these tasks:
- You should explain what broad question you want to address, and why it is important.
- You should explain why you feel the clip(s) you have chosen will help cast light on this dilemma. You should provide enough background information, about the show, that the audience will understand the clip’s relevance to your topic, even if they have not seen the show themselves. Don’t settle for a cut-and-paste background: think carefully about what they need to know in order to understand the clip, and to be able to follow and evaluate your line of argument, and present it clearly and concisely.
- You should clearly explain what we already know about this topic, and therefore what we should expect to see in situations like the one you will show in your clip.
- You should show the clip.
- You should concisely articulate what it is that we have seen that should surprise us.
- You should provide a clear, well-justified explanation of why we see what we see, instead of what our prior knowledge would lead us to expect.
- You should provide practical insights to your audience, based on your analysis.
- You should not ignore feedback that you have received from the project plan…
Grading. In grading the assignment, I will take several factors into consideration, including peer evaluations by your group members, audience evaluations of your team’s presentation, and my own assessment of your performance as a team and your individual contributions.
Please note that an individual member of a dysfunctional team may earn only a portion of the mark assigned to the team (from 0% to 100%). The grade bounds are as follows:
An A grade will be awarded to a presentation that:
(a) Clearly articulates a guiding question for the presentation, and establishes the relevance of the selected clips.
(b) Clearly and accurately articulates what we already know – i.e. the most relevant frameworks, and their mechanisms and/or predictions.
(c) Clearly and accurately explains why what happens in the clip(s) should be unexpected, in the light of what we already know.
(d) Provides a clear and well-justified explanation of why we see this unexpected occurrence or dynamic. This explanation must be grounded in analysis of the clip, and may be strengthened by clear and careful use of additional course concepts.
(e) Provides some practical insights that are likely to be of use to the audience, in their future engagement with organizations. These insights are clearly grounded in the analysis of the clip, and are clearly justified.
(f) Is presented effectively – i.e., clearly, audibly, in good time, and in a way that allows the audience to follow the argument with ease, and to understand and evaluate the proposed insights.
A B grade will be awarded to a presentation that:
(a) Meets most of the requirements of an A grade, but suffers from one or two of the following problems to a mild degree:
(i) It is insufficiently clear or accurate in articulating what we already know.
(ii) It is insufficiently clear or accurate in articulating ‘surprises’ in the clips (iii) The explanation of these surprises is insufficiently clear or justified (iv) The practical insights are insufficiently clear, practical, or justified (v) The presentation lacks clarity, or comprehensibility
(vi) The question, clips, analyses, and insights are not effectively integrated.
A C grade will be awarded to a presentations that:
(a) Meets most of the requirements of an A grade, but suffers from two or more of the following problems to a substantial degree:
(i) It is insufficiently clear or accurate in articulating what we already know.
(ii) It is insufficiently clear or accurate in articulating ‘surprises’ in the clips (iii) The explanation of these surprises is insufficiently clear or justified (iv) The practical insights are insufficiently clear, practical, or justified (v) The presentation lacks clarity, or comprehensibility
(vi) The question, clips, analyses, and insights are not effectively integrated.
(b) In addition, a C grade may be awarded if the core question addressed in the presentation is not clearly defined or articulated.
A D grade, or lower, will be awarded to presentations that do not meet the criteria for a C.
These grades will usually be prompted by a serious lack of clarity, and substantial error(s).
Timing. Grades will be adjusted for timing. Your presentation should take 15 minutes. I will cut you off at 18 minutes. I will subtract 1 percentage point from your score for each 15 seconds you take after the 15 minute point.
Peer Evaluation. I will ask all team members to email me privately with 0-5 point rankings of their teammates. I will use an average of these evaluations – and my own discretion – to evaluate what proportion of the team grade each member should receive. In general, all members should receive 100%; however, I reserve the right to reduce this for team members who receive consistently low evaluations. Individual grades may be 0-100% of the team grade.
Grading and Disciplinary Policies
Late Assignments: Please note that late assignments will not be accepted at all except under extenuating circumstances. Arrangements should be made with me in advance. As part of such an arrangement, I typically deduct 10% for assignments submitted within 48 hours of the due date and 20% for those submitted within one week of the due date. I will not accept assignments beyond one week of the due date unless official documentation is provided to support the claim of extenuating circumstances.
Converting to Final Letter Grades: Your final grade will be determined by your absolute performance on the assignments and your relative performance to the other students (in your section only). Please keep in mind that each section of SMO 310 is expected to reach an average grade target of 3.00 (i.e., a letter grade of B) on the four-point scale. Here is an approximate conversion chart:
Excellent Good Satisfactory Poor Failure
A+ 90 - 100 B+ 77 - 79 C+ 67 - 69 D+ 55 - 59 F 0 – 49 A 85 - 89 B 74 - 76 C 64 - 66 D 50 - 54
A- 80 - 84 B- 70 - 73 C- 60 - 63
University Policy on Recording: Audio or video recording of lectures, labs, seminars or any other teaching environment by students is allowed only with the prior written consent of the instructor or as a part of an approved accommodation plan. Recorded material is to be used solely for personal study, and is not to be used or distributed for any other purpose without prior written consent from the instructor.
University Policy on Class Disruption: The University of Alberta Code of Student Behaviour (online at http://www.ualberta.ca/~unisecr/policy/sec30.html) specifies in Section 30.3.4 Inappropriate Behaviour towards Members of the University Community, subsection 30.3.4(1) Disruption, paragraph 30.3.4(1)a that "No student shall disrupt a class in such a way that interferes with the normal process of the session or the learning of other students." Under Section 30.4.3 Levels of Sanction, subsection 30.4.3(1) Minor Sanctions, paragraph 30.4.3(1)a "Instructors have the authority to dismiss a student from class for no more than 3 hours of class time for disruption of a class. In cases where a single class meeting is longer than 3 hours the student may be excluded from that entire class."
Academic Dishonesty: The University of Alberta is committed to the highest standards of academic integrity and honesty. Students are expected to be familiar with these standards regarding academic honesty and to uphold the policies of the University in this respect.
Students are particularly urged to familiarize themselves with the provisions of the Code of Student Behaviour (online at www.ualberta.ca/secretariat/appeals.htm) and avoid any behaviour that could potentially result in suspicions of cheating, plagiarism, misrepresentation of facts and/or participation in an offence. Academic dishonesty is a serious offence and can result in suspension or expulsion from the University. I will immediately forward any suspicious cases to the Associate Dean of the Undergraduate Program.
Accordingly, please note: In cases where you are directly using someone’s own words, you must quote them exactly and cite the source of material. In cases where you have benefited generally from reading something or talking to someone, this should be acknowledged through a footnote or citation in the text. You should also provide a full reference for these citations, either in the form of a footnote or at the very end of your document.
Policy about course outlines can be found in Section 23.4(2) of the University Calendar.
COURSE SCHEDULE (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)
Date Topic Preparation
Jan. 07 Introduction C1; Syllabus
Jan. 09 A general history of modern management C18*
Jan. 14 Intro to the micro: Persons, perceptions, & groups NA Jan. 16 Intro to the macro: Environments, stakeholders, & cultures C2
Introductory memo due Jan. 21st, in class (paper copy)
Jan. 21 Planning and decision-making, I C4
Jan. 23 Planning and decision-making, II: ‘Out in the wild’ TGoA: 21-32 Jan. 28 Strategy: In pursuit of competitive advantage C5 Jan. 30 Crafting collectives, I: Organizational design C8
Feb. 04 Organizational change and innovation C6
Feb. 06 Review Session NA
Midterm exam, Feb 11th, in class
Feb. 13 Crafting collectives, II: Team dynamics & development C9 Reading week, Feb. 18th – 24th
Feb. 25 Motivation C12
Project plan due Feb. 27th, in class (paper copy)
Feb. 27 Communication C14
Mar. 04 Leadership C13
Mar. 06 Power & politics LBL: 195-220*
Mar. 11 Organizational control C15
Mar. 13 Strategic human resource management C10
Mar. 18 Managing diversity C11
Mar. 20 Information management and analytics C16
Mar. 25 Group presentations NA
Mar. 27 Group presentations NA
Apr. 01 Group presentations NA
Apr. 03 Group presentations NA
Concluding memo due by Apr. 8th, in class (paper copy)
Apr. 08 Review session NA
Final exam: TBD, Apr. 12th – 27th
* Asterisks indicate readings available via uLearn.
Please note: This syllabus remains subject to change
With thanks to Richard Field and Jennifer Jennings for providing template syllabi