ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR AND INNOVATION

The course will deepen students’ understanding of human behaviours in a variety of organisations. The course’s focus will be on behaviours that lead to innovation and novelty generation. Innovation will be analysed at different levels - that is, individual, interpersonal, and team levels.

Relying on some of the most relevant and recent research theories, together with cases from the organisational context, students will be able to acknowledge the complexity of managing innovation.

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 within organisations.

Specifically, the course is designed to:
develop students’ skills in analysing, discussing, and critiquing both problems and solutions regarding some relevant individual and team 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 said behaviours.

Basic knowledge of strategy and organisational 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 1 and 2 will focus on – respectively – the individual and the group level in established organisations.
Section 3 will focus on the concept of 'identities' in established and establishing organisations.
Finally, section 4 will explore some of the ‘hot’ topics in organisation studies.

The course material will consist of case studies, journal articles, and book chapters.
All the materials are available online and/or through the University Library System.

Mandatory Readings
Stephen P. Robbins, Timothy A. Judge - Organisational Behavior - Prentice Hall (2024 - 19th Edition/Global Edition).
Chapters 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10.

Andrew D. Brown - The Oxford Handbook of Identities in Organizations - Oxford University Press (2020).
Chapters 1 (Identities in Organizations - until 'Overview of Handbook') and 47 (Entrepreneurship and Identity).

Paul Saintilan & David Schreiber - Managing Organizations in the Creative Economy/Organizational Behaviour for the Cultural Sector - Routledge (2023 - 2nd Edition).
Selected extracts TBD.

Ho, J. (2021). Purposeful Life or Sugar-Coated Lies: How Elizabeth Holmes Legitimised her Fraud. Language & Communication, 77, 196-120.

Bonneau, C., Aroles, J., & Estagnasié, C. (2022). Romanticisation and monetisation of the digital nomad lifestyle: The role played by online narratives in shaping professional identity work. Organization, 30(1), 65-88.

Kang, S. K., De Celles, K. A., Tilcsik, A., & Jun, S. (2016). Whitened Résumés: Race and Self-Presentation in the Labor Market. Administrative Science Quarterly, 61(3), 469-502.

Selected papers' extracts will be discussed throughout the course, for which references will be among the materials uploaded on the course's Moodle page.

All the course's slides - uploaded on the Moodle page - are primary sources for insights not covered in the above references.

Written and oral exam.

50% of the final grade: students will be asked to carry out a group (or individual) 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 book/handbook chapters, slides, and journal articles analysed during the course.

written and oral

The instructor is responsible for ensuring the authenticity and originality of all examinations and coursework. In cases of suspected academic misconduct, an additional on-site assessment may be required during the exams, which may differ from the standard format.

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 organisational theories discussed in class.

D. Honours ("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 "Circular economy, innovation, work" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development