1. Organizational Behavior (OB)
Academic Year: 2012/2013 Semester: 1st
Instructor(s): Irina Cojuharenco (theory)
Maria João Gomes (practice sessions)
Maria Fernanda Bento (practice sessions)
Course Description:
This course will introduce students to the field of organizational behavior – an interdisciplinary field at
the very core of management studies dedicated to better understanding and managing people at work.
We will examine organizations by looking at the behavior of individuals, groups and organization-level
phenomena, such as structure and culture. Throughout the course, students will work in teams, and
thus, experience directly the challenges of teamwork – an increasingly popular form of organizing. The
main “take home” messages of the course are:
 Theories of organizational behavior are a product of the scientific method applied to
organizational problems. Management practice can be evidence-based too.
 There is no single best way of organizing: the secret of successful companies is to be
flexible.
 Intangible phenomena like values, trust and culture can be measured and their role can
be studied by means of quantitative analysis.
 Money is by far not the only motivator of human behavior.
 There is no single recipe for being a good leader: a good leader understands what
strategy fits specific situational demands.
In the process of learning the theory of organizational behavior, students will discuss experiences of
internationally known organizations, such as Google, Dell, Coca-Cola, Nucor, Price Waterhouse and
even NASA. Course projects and exercises are aimed at helping the students develop skills of reading
comprehension, critical reasoning, problem solving and communication applied to work-related issues.
The discipline is fundamental to preparing the students for the complexities of their future work life in
business organizations.
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Course Content:
Topic
Introduction
The world of OB (ch.1)
The organization
Organizational structure (ch.17)
Organizational culture (ch.3)
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2. The individual
Self-concept, personality, abilities and emotions (ch.5)
Values, attitudes, and job satisfaction (ch.6)
Social perception and attributions (ch.7)
Motivation (ch.8)
Improving job performance with goals, feedback,
rewards, and positive reinforcement (ch.9)
The group
Groups and teams (ch.10-11)
Power, influence, and politics (ch.15)
Leadership (ch.16)
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Course Requirements:
Teamwork
Teamwork is an increasingly popular form of organizing. Students are expected to form teams
of 3 to 4 members, and be ready to coordinate joint efforts on team assignments, develop intra-
team incentives for performance, give each other feedback and evaluate each other’s work
effort, and maintain an environment that rewards creativity and discipline.
Case study analysis
Each student team will analyze one case study, prepare a case study report, and present the
results of the case study analysis. Good teamwork is fundamental to the successful completion
of this task.
Course project
Separate guidelines will be distributed regarding the course project. Each student team will
pursue one project. Best project output will be published with explicit recognition of student
authorship, and serve as teaching materials in future courses of organizational behavior.
Attendance
Attendance of theory classes and practice sessions is important in this course because of the
teamwork format and reliance on experiential learning. There will be random checks of
attendance during theory classes and practice sessions.
Moreover, students will gain first-hand experience of the research process in the area of
organizational behavior by participating in several online studies designed by the FCEE faculty.
Student participation in online studies will be documented and will contribute to the student’s
attendance record.
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3. Participation
Students are encouraged to participate in class exercises (theory classes and practice
sessions), computer lab sessions and case study presentations.
Final exam
The final exam will take place on ____________ (“2 a Frequencia”). The make-up exam
(“Exame Final”) is scheduled for ___________. Admission to the make-up exam will be given
to students who have attended at least 50% of theory classes, 75% of practice sessions,
participated in all online studies, and either failed the final exam or wish to improve their grade
on the final exam.
If students decide to take the make-up exam, their grade on the make-up exam will replace
their overall course grade with ONE IMPORTANT CONDITION: the new grade will never
exceed 1.5 times the grade for all teamwork projects (i.e., the average of case study report and
presentation grade and the course project grade).
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Grading:

Case study analysis (written report and oral presentation)= 25%
Course project = 25%
Attendance (theory, practice, and online studies) = 10%
Participation = 10%
Final exam (2a frequencia) = 30%
Because of how many grades contribute to the overall grade for the course (attendance,
participation, case study report, case study presentation, course project, and final exam), the
overall grade for the course will be computed in Excel given importance weights above, and will
be reported as rounded by Excel. No discussion of different rounding procedures will take
place because differences of even a few decimal points are meaningful in this case.
Plagiarism
There is a zero tolerance policy on plagiarism. If caught plagiarizing, students will automatically
fail the course.
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4. Bibliography:
Kreitner, R. & Kinicki, A. (2008). Organizational behavior, 8th edition, McGraw-Hill/Irwin.
For study material and exercises that apply to the chapters of the textbook, you will visit the publisher’s
website at www.mhhe.com/kreitner.
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Biography:
Irina Cojuharenco earned her PhD and her MSc degrees in Economics and Management at Universitat
Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona (Spain). She joined Catolica Lisbon School of Business and Economics in
2007 as the assistant professor of Decision Making and Organization Studies. Since then, she has
taught core undergraduate courses in organizational behavior and electives in decision making, as well
as a doctoral course in Organizational Theory within the Carnegie Mellon - Portugal partnership. Her
research focuses on individual judgment and decision-making in organizations, subjective well-being
and organizational justice. Her work has been published in international academic journals
Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Journal of Business Ethics, Judgment and
Decision Making and the Journal of Mathematical Psychology, and presented at numerous international
conferences.
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Contact(s) and Office hours:
By appointment, send an email to ICojuharenco@clsbe.lisboa.ucp.pt.
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