SPRING 2007 LECTURE SESSION A BUAD 304 Leading Organizations University of Southern California Marshall School of Business Course Instructors Lecture Sessions 14732 14738 14744 14750 Professor Michael Coombs Department of MOR Office Bridge Hall 304 Phone 213 740 9290 E mail mcoombs marshall usc edu Office Hours By appointment Lecture Sessions 14720 14726 Professor Thomas G Cummings Department of MOR Office Bridge Hall 306B Phone 213 740 0733 E mail tcummings marshall usc edu Office Hours By appointment Course Objectives Understanding what leadership is all about and what is involved in becoming a successful leader in today s business organizations Appreciating leadership skills as an essential complement to the technical skills you are learning in other courses Learning concepts and approaches that will enable you to lead the analysis of organizational problems and the development of appropriate solutions Developing the behavioral skills you need to be a successful manager of yourself and others Course Format This course includes three elements 1 weekly online sessions 2 weekly discussion sessions and 3 bi weekly lecture sessions that you will attend six times during the semester The online sessions will explain key conceptual frameworks found in the reading assignments They will also use short stories and videos to illustrate how corporate leaders are implementing the concepts you are learning It is expected that you will do the required reading prior to viewing the online sessions The discussion sessions will focus on issues related to actual leadership situations and experiential exercises to learn leadership skills They will integrate skill development with the concepts covered in the reading assignments and online sessions It is expected that you will come to your discussion section meeting prepared to discuss the assigned material and participate in the learning exercises The lecture sessions will address the course material in a highly interactive format including short case studies self assessment measures and question and answer periods It is expected that you will come to your discussion sessions prepared to discuss the assigned material and to participate in the learning activities 1 Changing Discussion Sections If you are already registered for BUAD 304 but you would like to move to another discussion section without first dropping the class you must find someone in the desired discussion section to switch places with you and take your space in your discussion If you are switching to a discussion section that is attached to a different lecture section you are automatically switching lecture sections as well This is the only way you will be able to move to another discussion section without first dropping the class Students who are already registered for the class are not eligible to sign up on the waiting list for other discussion sections To avoid being inadvertently dropped from the class you and the person you switch places with are responsible for informing both discussion section instructors of the switch as soon as you start attending another discussion section During the third week of classes your new discussion section instructor will provide you with an add slip so you can register for the correct discussion and lecture session Text Stephen P Robbins Timothy Judge Organizational Behavior 12th Edition Englewood Cliffs NJ Prentice Hall 2007 Blackboard The weekly online sessions as well as overheads course announcements and communication will be available from the course web page on Blackboard To access Blackboard launch Internet Explorer enter http blackboard usc edu and use your USC Unix username and password to log in For the course web page select 20071 buad 304 14720 Organizational Behavior for Cummings or 14732 for Coombs You can use the tabs on the left hand side to access the materials and navigate the course web page For your discussion section web page select the similar link that contains your discussion section number You can use your discussion section web page to communicate directly with your discussion instructor your project team members and other classmates from your discussion section Grading Participation in Discussion Sessions Homework in Discussion Sessions 5 written assignments Homework in Lecture Sessions 5 written assignments Midterm Exam Team Case Analysis Final Exam TOTAL 15 10 15 20 15 25 100 Target Grade Average Grading is done separately for each discussion section In accordance with the grading guidelines of the Marshall School each discussion section will have a grade point average approximating 3 0 2 Participation in Discussion Sessions This part of your grade will be based on effective contributions to class discussions These include input that is relevant to the course content and the topic of discussion Participation also comprises involvement in research activities You can choose one of two options to fulfill this requirement First you can participate in research studies To do this you will attend sessions outside of class conducted by researchers in organizational behavior at Marshall Shorter studies offer credit per session and longer ones offer 1 credit per session Most sessions are no more than an hour long You will need to obtain 1 credit during the semester in order to fulfill the research requirement If you choose this option please register for an account at http marshall ob experimentrak net see instructions at the end of the syllabus no later than January 22 2007 After you verify your account you will need to check the site regularly to find open studies and sign yourself up for appointments Studies are scheduled throughout the semester on various days and times It s important that you complete your credit early if you wait until the end of the semester there may not be enough studies available Please note If you reserve a time and then fail to appear without notifying the researcher 24 hours in advance you will receive a 1 credit penalty and will have to complete a total of 2 credits worth of studies for the semester Your second way to complete the research requirement is to write a 3 page research paper on a topic prearranged with your discussion section instructor Students must be aged 18 or older by February 22 2007 in order to choose option 1 otherwise you will need to use option 2 Papers must be turned in no later than April 27 2007 Homework in Discussion Sessions This portion of your grade will be assessed