Prospectus

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Organisational Management

Course
2015-2016

Entry requirements

Only open to master’s students Psychology with specialisation Social and Organisational Psychology or Occupational Health Psychology.

Description

Organisational management involves the coordination and facilitation of organisational processes to accomplish core organisational goals. The aim of this course is to familiarise students with some of the key topics in the domain of organisational management, and to train them in applying this knowledge to organisational practice. These key topics include human resource management, personnel selection, effective communication with both internal (e.g., employees) and external (e.g., clients) stakeholders, managing the organisation’s identity, corporate social responsibility, and corporate restructures such as mergers and strategic alliances. These topics will be approached by integrating conceptual, empirical and case methods. This course will contribute to the foundations of students’ development as future manager, consultant, policy advisor, researcher, trainer, recruiter, mediator, or coach. Students will learn to critically analyse organisational problems, and propose structural solutions to these problems based on theoretical insights from the field of social and organisational psychology.

Course objectives

Students will:

  • Acquire an understanding of the theoretical underpinnings of some of the key topics in organisational management;

  • Learn to apply their theoretical knowledge to organisational problems and generate theory-based solutions to these problems; and

  • Be challenged to reflect on their academic attitude in anticipation of their work as a professional in organisational settings.

Timetable

For the timetables of your lectures, work groups and exams, please select your study programme in:
Psychology timetables

Registration

Course

Students need to enroll for lectures and work group sessions.
Master’s course registration

Examination

Students are not automatically enrolled for an examination. They can register via uSis from 100 to 10 calendar days before the date. Students who are not registered will not be permitted to take the examination.
Registering for exams

Mode of instruction

The course is given in 7 interactive meetings of 2 hours each. 2 meetings (meeting 2 and 7) are plenary meetings (i.e., collective meetings) with guest lecturers from the field. 5 meetings (meetings 3 – 6) are work group sessions in small groups of 14 – 20 students. In the first work group session, students will learn how to apply scientific theories to analyse organisational problems and develop intervention plans. In the remaining 4 work group sessions, we will discuss relevant literature and present and discuss students’ intervention plans for specific organisational problems. The first guest lecture, by Laura Monden, MSc, serves to demonstrate how practitioners handle organisational problems. The second guest lecture, by organisation specialists from Studelta, will show students how to communicate effectively and persuasively with the field.

Assessment method

The course grade will be the weighed average of the following components:
1. Oral presentation (group assessment): 40%
2. Paper (individual assessment): 50%
3. Class attendance and participation (individual assessment): 10%

The Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences has instituted that instructors use a software programme for the systematic detection of plagiarism in students’ written work. In case of fraud disciplinary actions will be taken. Please see the information concerning fraud.

Reading list

Approximately 19 readings (available from the library or on Blackboard; a complete list will be provided in the course syllabus in due course), among which:

  • Tyler, T. R., & Blader, S. L. (2003). The group engagement model: Procedural justice, social identity, and cooperative behavior. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 7, 349–361. doi:10.1207/S15327957PSPR0704.

  • Van Dierendonck, D., & Jacobs, G. (2012). Survivors and victims, a meta-analytical review of fairness and organizational commitment after downsizing. British Journal of Management, 23, 96–109. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8551.2010.00724.

  • Bauman, C. W., & Skitka, L. J. (2012). Corporate social responsibility as a source of employee satisfaction. Research in Organizational Behavior, 32, 63–86. doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2008.05.007

  • Peters, L., & Karren, R. J. (2009). An examination of the roles of trust and functional diversity on virtual team performance ratings. Group & Organization Management, 34, 479–504.

Contact information

Dr. Esther van Leeuwen