BUU22510 Organisational Behaviour 2025/26

(5 ECTS)

Lecturer:

Dr Graham Dwyer

E-mail: dwyergr@tcd.ie

Office Hours: 1000hrs to 1100hrs every Monday or appointment via email
Module Tutor: To be appointed

Available to exchange Students

Pre-Requisite: 

BUU11570 - Enacting Sustainable Development
BUU11580 - Fundamentals of Management and Organisation

Module Description:

Organisations of one form or another serve many important needs in business, government 
and society. They vary greatly in size, complexity and the activities they undertake. To achieve 
organisational goals people working in organisations work within, across and between formal 
and informal systems. This requires understanding the behavior of the individual and groups
in the workplace. The module explores three key areas. Firstly, the factors that influence 
individuals such as personality, attitudes, perception, motivation, learning, communication 
and job satisfaction. Secondly, the factors that influence the nature of groups and teams and 
the importance of leadership. Thirdly, the module explores the nature of organisations by 
analysing issues such as goals, structure, design, control, change, and culture

Teaching Approach:

All students must take an active role in achieving the learning outcomes by engaging with the module in at least three ways: preparing for lectures by critically engaging with the recommended readings; punctual and actively present at all lectures and tutorials by responding to critical questions and participating in peer discussions; and presenting your written work in a structured and precise manner. 

The module is taught through a plenary lecture complemented with tutorials. The plenary lectures and tutorials provide the opportunity for the students to move from a level of knowing about the theories and concepts, through their reading the recommended core text book and suggested readings, to building a comprehensive framework of OB for application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.  Each week students will be invited to participate in a discussion on the lecture topics which will require them to respond briefly to a question on Blackboard Ultra. 

Individual requirements: I invite students with individual requirements related to this module to contact me in confidence as early as possible to discuss ways of dealing with any potential difficulties.

Any student not attending lectures for the whole module (e.g., visiting students; TCD students planning to leave for part of the semester) must make contact via email to discuss any special arrangements that may be required.

Module Level Learning Outcomes:

By the end of the module the student will: 

1. Understand a range of psychological factors that influence the behaviour of 
   individuals in organisations such as personality, perception, communication, 
   motivation and learning. 
2. Understand a range of factors that influence the behaviour and development of 
   groups and teams in organisations and be aware of the nature of leadership. 
3. Understand the nature and complexity of organisations by exploring issues such as 
   goals, strategy, structure, design, control and development. 
4. Understand the internal dynamics of organizations including issues such as power and 
   politics, decision making, and ethics/corporate social responsibility. 
5. Apply scientific theories and research to analyze organisational, team, and individual 
   performance. 
6. Possess an awareness of the changes that continually impact on individuals and 
   groups and influence the nature of organisations. 
7. To explain the concept of evidence-based management and to find, understand and 
   use research papers to formulate evidenced based management interventions.

Skills

During the module the student will be given the opportunity to:

• Develop written and oral communication skills;
• Develop cooperation and teamwork skills;
• Develop analytical, critical and problem solving skills;
• Develop consulting skills.

Relation to Degree

This module supports six learning goals for the following programmes: Global Business, Business Studies & Language, BESS, Computer Science & Business, and Law & Business, as follows: 

• Identify, critically evaluate, and synthesise the substantive theories, frameworks, and models, both qualitative and quantitative, that are used in fields of enquiry related to business, management, and the social sciences.
• Analyse and solve a variety of problems in the private and public sectors from a multi- disciplinary knowledge basis of theories, tools and techniques in business and the social sciences.
• Communicate effectively in oral and written modes in professional and academic settings.
• Apply knowledge and understanding of the social and ethical dimensions of management and research in both the public and private sectors of society and to apply this knowledge effectively in management and research contexts.
• Work effectively as an individual and in teams.
• Demonstrate the ability to engage productively with a changing social, cultural, and technological environment.

Indicative topics to be covered

• Introduction to Organisational Behaviour: paid work, individual behaviour and group processes in organisations.
• Individuals in the workplace and invisible “differences”: How individual traits and characteristics (such as personality, identity, perceptions and emotions) influence individual psychological and behavioural reactions in organisations, including motivations, incentives and ways of learning.
• Individuals in the workplace and visible “differences”: race, gender, disability and age, and how these “diversity factors” might influence individual and group processes, such as inequalities.
• Individual differences and diversity: How individual characteristics and experiences can influence individuals reactions in organisations and what role do people management practices play in promoting equality, diversity and inclusion.
• Group dynamics and management processes: How individuals behave in teams, communicate in teams, how supervisors effectively lead teams, how teams make decisions and how individuals solve conflicts within teams.
• Organisational design and change: How organisational culture and structure as well as the implementation of organisational change processes can influence individuals and teams, including resistance to change.

Recommended Texts/Key Reading

Bratton, J. (2015). Introduction to Work and Organisational Behaviour (3rd Edition). London: Palgrave

The new edition of the book is available as an e-book and can also be used. 

General Supplemental Readings

Additional literature Additional readings for each lecture will be provided. However, if you are interested in reading further material and you are interested in specific academic discussions of the topics that we cover in class, you can have a look at the following academic journals, which publish up-to-date academic studies and articles on topics around Organisational Behaviour. Please ask me if you have any questions about this. This is a list of journals that might be of interest:

Academy of Management Perspectives (https://journals.aom.org/journal/amp)

Journal of Organizational Behavior (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/%28ISSN%291099-1379)

Organization Science (http://pubsonline.informs.org/journal/orsc)

Personnel Psychology (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/%28ISSN%291744-6570)

Information and Organization (Information and Organization | All Journal Issues | ScienceDirect.com by Elsevier)

Leadership Quarterly (Open Access Articles - The Leadership Quarterly - Journal - Elsevier)

Human Resource Management Journal (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/%28ISSN%291748-8583)

Human Resource Management (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/%28ISSN%291099-050X)

Human Relations (http://hum.sagepub.com/)

Work, Employment and Society (http://wes.sagepub.com/)

Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/20448325)

Journal of Applied Psychology (https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/apl/)

Etc. (please let me know if you need any advice or tips on additional literature) 

Additional Articles not covered in book

Brennecke, J., and Stoemmer, N. (2018). The Network-Performance Relationship in Knowledge-Intensive Contexts-A Meta-Analysis and Cross-Level Comparison. Human Resource Management, 57(1), pp. 11-36.

Cunningham, I. (2002). Developing human and social capital in organisations. Industrial and Commercial Training, 34(3), pp.89-94.

Morgan, P. (2005). Structural vs. relational embeddedness: social capital and managerial performance. Strategic Management Journal, 26(12), pp. 1129-1151.

Assessment and Examination:

Module assessment will be in the form of:

• Individual Multiple Choice Exam (MCQ). Exam will take place on campus in exams 
  week at the end of the course (Exams Week). The exam is worth 50% of the overall 
  module score. 
• Group based consultancy report: This involves an assignment whereby groups (approx 
  5 students per group) have to engage in evidence-based management in a real 
  organisation to solve a pressing organisational behaviour issue. The analysis and 
  recommendations are detailed in an overall report comprising 2,500 words. The group 
  consultancy report is worth 50% of the overall module score. 
  *Please note that the groups will be allocated by the lecturer at the beginning of the 
  course.

Contact Teaching Methods

The course will consist of both a lecture (10 in total) and a tutorial (6 in total). Note that tutorials will NOT commence until the fifth week (Week 7). The lectures and tutorials will be delivered in class (on campus) each week. The lectures will provide students with the relevant theoretical background and explain core concepts, and will allow students the opportunity to discuss practical questions related to the topics. The tutorials will allow students to engage in more in-depth discussions about the material learned, for example through case studies and group work. The tutorials will also aim to prepare students for their group assignment and exam.

Non-contact Teaching Methods

Blackboard will be used to administer the course in general and provide students with supplementary teaching materials and learning opportunities. Students will also be expected to undertake significant reading to supplement their learning during contact hours. For each topic, one key reading/video is usually supplied to students. Students should supplement this with additional reading.

Module Assessment

Module assessment will be in the form of:

• Individual Multiple Choice Exam (MCQ). Exam will take place on campus in exams week at the end of the course (Exams Week). The exam is worth 50% of the overall module score.
• Group based consultancy report: This involves an assignment whereby groups (approx 5 students per group) have to engage in evidence-based management in a real organisation to solve a pressing organisational behaviour issue. The analysis and recommendations are detailed in an overall report comprising 2,500 words. The group consultancy report is worth 50% of the overall module score.

*Please note that the groups will be allocated by the lecturer at the beginning of the course.

1) Instructions for Individual Multiple Choice Exam 
Students have to complete an on campus 1.5 hour multiple choice exam consisting of 50 questions with four possible answers (a,b,c,d). The exam will take place somewhere in exams week. The multiple-choice exam will be administered on campus. There are no previous exams which contain sample questions, and no sample questions will be provided in advance. 
This is one reason why attendance at lectures and tutorials is important. However, the lectures and tutorials will focus on preparing students for the type of questions that could be asked. 

2) Instructions for Group Consultancy Assignment 
In the group assignment, students work in a team of five to six students on a consultancy assignment for an organisation of their own choice. The groups are put together before the second lecture begins and are expected to make contact with each other before the third lecture commences. This will be possible via Blackboard. The group is carefully put together by the tutorial teacher and there are no exceptions to this. 

In the group assignment, students themselves seek an organisation within which they can advise on a pressing organisational behaviour issue. Essentially, students will be required to write a group report (2,500 words maximum excluding cover page, bibliography and appendices). Students will be able to use the textbook but will be expected to use additional academic literature (external evidence) as well as information from the company representatives (local evidence) to write the report. Students will have to use proper citation styles and provide a reference list of all materials used/cited in the report. 

The group assignment works as follows:
1. Students are allocated into a group (5/6 students) before lecture 2.
2. Find an organisation, find a problem in the field of organisational behaviour that 
exists within that organization.
3. Collect local evidence about the problem by doing interview(s) in the organisation. 
4. Collect insights from scientific research (external evidence) about the problem. 
5. Develop appropriate advice for the organisation to improve the organisational 
behaviour issue.
6. Write an advisory report (with a maximum of 2,500 words) for the organisation that 
meets the assessment criteria.

Late or missed assessment submissions. Students must seek permission for deferring 
assessments based on medical/other grounds. They must do this through their College 
lecturer, Dr Graham Dwyer (dwyergr@tcd.ie). Unexcused late assignment submissions may 
be penalised by 5% of the grade awarded for each working day late, or part thereof. Students 
unable for medical reasons to submit an assignment must produce a medical certificate to 
the Trinity Business School office within three working days of the missed submission date. 
Certificates received after that time may not be accepted. 

Attendance at mandatory tutorials. Tutorials for this module are mandatory because they 
provide a rich opportunity to support student learning. Unexcused absence from two or more 
tutorials may be deemed non-satisfactory and a report will be sent to the students college 
tutor and the undergraduate office. 

Reassessment. Students who fail to achieve an overall mark of at least 40% across all 
assessments may be invited to attend a supplementary written exam. Previous assessments 
would not be considered as this exam would determine your overall mark.

Biographical Note

Graham Dwyer is Co-Director of the Trinity Centre for Social Innovation and is an Associate 
Professor at Trinity Business School. Before completing his PhD at the University of 
Melbourne he worked as Director in the Victorian Public Service, Melbourne, Australia where 
he was responsible for working closely with police and emergency management first 
responders to implement learning initiatives from after action reviews of critical incidents. 
After completing his PhD he worked at Course Director (Master of Social Impact) at the Centre 
for Social Impact which is a collaboration of Australian universities who provide education, 
tools and research to help catalyse social change for a better world. Most recently he has 
worked at University of Melbourne where he taught Organisational Behaviour. He has 
previously been a Visiting Scholar to RMIT University, Melbourne Australia. Graham strives to 
create a learning environment where every voice matters and all students feel empowered 
to share their thoughts. He often invites guest speakers to present to students which opens 
up exciting opportunities for network building where learning is an outcome of shared 
experiences and lifelong friendships are forged through learning activities at university.