OB450 Orientation to the Organizational Behavior Profession
This course will launch the concentration in Organizational Behavior, commonly referred to as OB. It will begin with defining "what is an organization" and what career opportunities exist for those with a concentration in this field. The course introduces the three levels of analysis that OB and organizational development practitioners address: the individual, the group and the organization. Since OB draws upon an array of diverse disciplines, this orientation to the landscape will touch upon psychology, management, sociology, organization theory, anthropology, systems theory, economics and ethics. The insights from these disciplines will be applied to illuminate the human dynamics that go on inside workplaces and to provide a tool chest of the skills organizational development practitioners employ to better understand and manage people—individually, and as collectives inside large systems. The metaphor of the learning organization will provide a framework for how to diagnose issues, develop strategies for change and improvement, and evaluate and measure success. Students learn the history and origins of this relatively young field of practice, as well as, become introduced to the major schools of thought and to the current challenges at the cutting edge of the field.
Prerequisite
None
Corequisite
None
Distribution
Psychology
Notes
Available online only.