INDIVIDUAL AND GROUP BEHAVIOURS FOR INNOVATION

The course will deepen students’ understanding of human behaviours in a variety of organisations. It will provide theoretical and practical knowledge on what human behaviours are and the main challenges in managing them. The course’s focus will be on behaviours that lead to innovation and novelty generation. Innovation will be analysed at different levels - individual, interpersonal, and team. Through the reliance on some of the most relevant theories research has been developing over the last decades, together with cases from the organisational context, students will be able to acknowledge the complexity of managing innovation. Exploring the complex interaction between individuals that emerges when people engage in working on a task together to pursue novelty will illuminate one of the most challenging aspects of organisational life.

The course will help students to develop an integrated set of frameworks and tools for understanding and managing their own and others’ behaviours and for assessing how human behaviours can influence creativity and ultimately the effectiveness of organisations. Special attention will also be given to ethics. Today’s managers can create an ethically healthy climate for their employees and encourage them to behave with integrity.
Specifically, the course is designed to:
- develop students’ skills in analysing, discussing, and critiquing both problems and solutions regarding some relevant human behaviours;
- enable students to develop a comprehensive knowledge about the challenges managers face in managing human behaviours in modern organisations, pursuing creativity and innovation;
- identify ethical issues in managing human behaviours.

Basic knowledge of strategy and organisation design. The course welcomes students who would want to participate in class discussions, keeping the debate lively and constructive, while favouring working in groups on assignments.

The course will develop a robust, in-depth analysis of organisational behaviours and will stimulate critical discussions about them.

After an introductory section to define human behaviours while looking at the main challenges of managing them in modern organisations, the course will be divided into four sections. Sections one and two will focus on – respectively – the individual and the group level in established organisations. Section three will focus on motivations and identities in establishing organisations. Finally, section four will explore some ‘hot’ topics in organisation studies.

Introduction
- What are human behaviours, main organisational challenges, behavioural model, behaviours and ethics.
Individual behaviours in established organisations
- Attitudes, job satisfaction, and emotional intelligence.
- Motivation theories and their applications.
- Decision making and creativity.
Group behaviours in established organisations
- Foundations of group behaviour: properties and decision making.
- Understanding the work team.

Identities and motivations in establishing organisations
- Entrepreneurial identity work – founders.
- Enterprises’ identity work.

Hot topics in organisation studies
- Working on/for platform organisations.
- Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in organisations.

The course material will consist of case studies, journal articles, and book chapters. Most of the material will be available online.


Mandatory readings
Stephen P. Robbins, Timothy A. Judge - Organisational Behavior - Prentice Hall (2024 – 19th Edition/Global Edition).
Chapters 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 9, 10.
Steven McShane, Mary Von Glinow - Organisational Behavior - McGraw-Hill Higher Education (2021 – 5th Edition)
Chapter 7
Andrew D. Brown - The Oxford Handbook of Identities in Organizations – Oxford University Press (2020)
Chapters 1, 47
Additional Readings
Selected papers will be communicated throughout the course, in class and on Moodle.

50% of the final grade: students will be asked to carry out a group project on an organisation of their own choice and present it in class. Precise instructions on content, structure, and deadlines will be given in class and on Moodle.

50% of the final grade: written exam. Open-ended questions based on textbook chapters, slides, and journal articles seen during the course.

written

Grading Scale (Criteria for Grade Assignment):

A. Grades in the 18–22 range will be assigned in the presence of:
* sufficient knowledge and applied understanding of the course content;
* sufficient ability in completing the assigned projects;
* limited ability to understand and present the theories and managerial implications discussed in class

B. Grades in the 23–26 range will be assigned in the presence of:
* fair knowledge and applied understanding of the course content;
* fair ability in completing the assigned projects;
* fair ability to understand and present the theories and managerial implications discussed in class

C. Grades in the 27–30 range will be assigned in the presence of:
* good to excellent knowledge and applied understanding of the course content;
* good to excellent ability in completing the assigned projects;
* good to excellent ability to understand and present the organizational theories discussed in class

D. Honors ("lode") will be awarded in the presence of excellent knowledge and applied understanding of the course content, and an outstanding ability to understand and present the theories and managerial implications discussed in class

Interactive approach based on journal articles, videos, self-assessment exercises, and group presentations.

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Human capital, health, education" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development