Ben Collier, PhD Book a call →free, 15 minutes

Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar · 2012 to 2016 · Undergraduate

Organizational Behavior

Motivation, teams, decisions, negotiation, leadership, and change, taught through business cases and simulations.

About 70 to 90 students a year in Doha across two sections, and 56 in Pittsburgh in Fall 2016

This was the core organizational behavior course for business students, and the course I taught most: first in Pittsburgh as a PhD student, then every year in Doha, and again in Pittsburgh in 2016. I built it around cases and simulations: Lincoln Electric and SAS for motivation, an Everest simulation and the Carter Racing exercise for team decisions, live negotiations, and a change simulation at the end. Each year I replaced more lecture time with exercises, so students spent most of class applying a concept rather than hearing about it. Students finished by analyzing a real company of their choosing with the course's frameworks.

  • Fall 2014
  • Mondays and Wednesdays, two sections (10:30 and 1:30)
  • Course number 70-311
Slide: Three levels of analysis, from the individual up to the organization
Slide: Critical tasks, people, and culture all have to line up with strategy
Slide: Three phases of organizational change: mobilize, move, sustain

slides from the decks
I taught from

Fall 2014 · Mondays and Wednesdays, two sections (10:30 and 1:30)

Week by week

Scroll the schedule and the slides follow along: five from each session, picked from the decks I taught from.

  1. Part I: Management and motivation
  2. W1Introduction and course overviewThree levels of analysis, from the individual up to the organizationHow individual, group, and organizational mechanisms drive outcomesPsychology is the discipline that feeds most of the individual-level topicsIs organizational behavior just common sense?Common sense says opposite things. Which proverb do you trust?
  3. W1Motivation theoriesReading: Motivation: The Not-So-Secret Ingredient of High PerformanceThe Hawthorne effect: people change when they know they are watchedTheory X and Theory Y: two assumptions about what workers are likeFixed, variable, bonus, or a mix: how pay tracks performanceMaslow's hierarchy of needsFour need theories side by side: Maslow, Herzberg, Alderfer, McClelland
  4. W2Case: Lincoln Electric (A)CaseProcess theories of motivation: expectancy, prospect, and equityMotivation rises as we approach a goal and falls once we pass itVroom's expectancy theory as a chain of three questionsAdams' equity theory: we compare our inputs and outputs to others'Lincoln Electric's key HR practices, from piecework to guaranteed employment
  5. W2Case: Lincoln Electric (B); intrinsic motivation and job designCaseReading: Employee Motivation: A Powerful New ModelRunning Lincoln Electric through Herzberg's two-factor theoryRunning Lincoln Electric through expectancy theoryLincoln Electric looks at India. Will the system travel?Hofstede's six dimensions of national cultureThe United States, India, and the UAE on Hofstede's dimensions
  6. W3Case: SAS Institute (A)CaseAssignment 1 dueFour drives and the organizational lever that fulfills eachIntrinsic motivation comes from the work itselfThe job characteristics model of work motivationGrant's fundraisers: does meeting a scholarship recipient change performance?Pledges before and after. Guess which group improved
  7. W3Case: SAS Institute (B)CaseSAS and Lincoln Electric use opposite strategies. How do both work?SAS near the top of Fortune's 100 Best Companies to Work ForWhat happens to SAS when Jim Goodnight retires?The attraction-selection-attrition modelSAS and Lincoln Electric through the ASA lens
  8. W4Case: Raleigh and RosseCaseCognitive evaluation theory: extrinsic rewards can crowd out intrinsic onesPaying people per correct answer. Predict what happenedThe puzzle study: paid participants stop playing once the pay stopsThe daycare mini-case: what happens when you fine late parents?Why extrinsic motivation can undermine intrinsic motivation
  9. W4Case: Southwest Airlines, putting motivation together with strategyCaseCompetitive advantage: cost or differentiationHerb Kelleher on building a people-focused cultureCritical tasks, people, and culture all have to line up with strategyCulture, formal organization, and leadership work togetherHow Southwest gets its advantage: selection, rewards, training, leadership
  10. Part II: Teams and decision making
  11. W5Leadership and Team Simulation: EverestIn-class exerciseAn online simulation, run in teams. Reading: The Hidden Traps in Decision Making
  12. W5Everest simulation debriefDebriefing the Everest simulationThe common information effect: groups talk about what everyone already knowsCognitive conflict versus affective conflictA field guide to cognitive biasesWhat drives psychological safety on a team
  13. W6Everest 1996 debrief and group decision makingAssignment 2 dueSpace Journey: rank 15 items after crash-landing on the moonThe wisdom of crowds needs diversity, independence, decentralization, and aggregationForming, storming, norming, performingExtreme roles in a group push it toward groupthink and polarizationModerate task conflict is good for performance; too little or too much is not
  14. W6In-class case exercise: Carter RacingIn-class exerciseCarter Racing: race or don't race?Plotting temperature against engine failuresThe space shuttle ChallengerThe same chart NASA had: O-ring incidents by launch temperatureFlights with and without O-ring thermal distress
  15. W7Eid al-Adha breakNo class
  16. W8Review
  17. W8Exam 1
  18. Part III: Negotiation
  19. W9In-class negotiation: BioPharm-SeltekIn-class exerciseReading: Five Essential Strategies for Creative Negotiations
  20. W9In-class negotiation: New RecruitIn-class exerciseGuest facilitators David Gray and Starling Hunter. Reading: In Global Negotiations, It's All About TrustNew Recruit: a recruiter and a candidate negotiate eight issuesEach issue is worth different points to each sideCompatible issues: both sides want the same thingDistributive issues: one side's gain is the other's lossIntegrative issues: trade what you value less for what you value more
  21. W10OPEC simulation and the New Recruit debriefIn-class exerciseThe cost of not negotiating your first salary compounds over a careerReservation points and the zone of possible agreementReciprocity: the obligation to give when you receiveWhere New Recruit pairs ended up on job assignmentCreate value first, then claim it: the Pareto frontier
  22. W10OPEC simulation debriefAssignment 3 due
  23. Part IV: Teams and leadership
  24. W11Teams: in-class case on IDEOCaseReading: A Note on Team Processes
  25. W11Guest lecture on leadership: Carolin Zeitler, Tataowar ConsultingReading: What Makes a Leader?
  26. W12Guest lecture on personal leadership: Youssef Gaboune, Al Jazeera Media Training and Development CenterAssignment 4 due. Reading: Leadership That Gets Results
  27. W12Case: Bill Gates and Steve JobsCaseReading: What Leaders Really DoA framework for studying leadership: traits, behaviors, situations, resultsLeadership trait theories: personality, motivation, abilityFiedler's contingency model: match the leader's style to the situationGoleman's six leadership styles. Which did Gates or Jobs use?Kotter: what leaders do versus what managers do
  28. W13Review
  29. W13Exam 2
  30. Part V: Change
  31. W14Change management simulationIn-class exerciseReading: Leading Change: Why Transformation Efforts FailThree phases of organizational change: mobilize, move, sustainKotter's eight steps for leading changeWhy individuals resist changeThe adoption curve: expected versus experiencedA strategy for change mapped by resistance and power
  32. W14Change management debrief
  33. W15Final presentationsPresentations
  34. W15Final presentationsPresentations

What students hand in

Major assignments

  • Exams30%
  • Quizzes10%
  • Group case analysis papers20%
  • Final project20%
  • Classroom engagement20%
fig. 1 · weight of each major assignment in the grade

Exams 30%

Two non-cumulative, closed-book exams mixing multiple choice, short answer, and essay questions.

Quizzes 10%

Seven open-book online quizzes on the previous one to two weeks of lectures, readings, and cases.

Group case analysis papers 20%

Four papers written in randomly assigned groups. Assignment 1 analyzed the SAS Institute case. Assignment 2 analyzed the team's own Everest simulation run alongside the 1996 Everest case. Assignment 3 had groups carry out two negotiations outside class, a movie production deal and a hotel coffee contract, and report their planning, BATNAs, and outcomes. Assignment 4 compared Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and a leader of the group's choice using Kotter, Goleman's six styles, and StrengthsFinder.

Final project 20%

In self-selected groups of three to five, students analyzed a real organization using three course topics, backed by at least six sources, and recommended improvements. Each group wrote an 8 to 10 page paper and gave a five-minute presentation. Companies from earlier course cases or earlier years were off limits.

Classroom engagement 20%

Discussion, in-class exercises, and iClicker questions, with some cold calling so quieter students had an equal chance to contribute. Peer evaluations after every group assignment fed into this grade.

What students built

Student work

Every project, by term.

Fall 2014 22 projects
  • Adidas. Looked at a sponsorship negotiation between Adidas and a sports team Leadership, motivation, negotiation
  • Alibaba. Centered on Jack Ma's leadership Motivation and job design, leadership, change management
  • Amazon (group 1). Looked at how Jeff Bezos makes decisions Motivation, decision making, leadership
  • Amazon (group 2) Motivation and management, teams and decision making, leadership
  • BCG Leadership, motivation, decision making
  • Disney Motivation, leadership, negotiation
  • Facebook Motivation and management, leadership, negotiation
  • General Motors Motivation, leadership, change management
  • Hershey Motivation, leadership, teams and decision making
  • IBM Motivation and management, leadership, change management
  • IKEA Motivation, leadership, negotiation
  • Kellogg's. Analyzed two negotiations: with Procter & Gamble and with locked-out workers in Memphis Motivation, leadership, negotiation
  • LEGO. Looked at how leadership pulled LEGO back from the brink Motivation, leadership, change management
  • Manchester United. Sir Alex Ferguson's leadership and the change after he left Motivation, leadership, change management
  • Marriott International Motivation, leadership
  • Nestle Motivation, leadership, change management
  • Netflix Motivation, leadership, change management
  • Nike Motivation and job design, leadership, negotiation
  • Swarovski Leadership, motivation
  • Unilever Motivation, leadership
  • Virgin Group Leadership, motivation, structure and decision making
  • Zappos. Looked at power shifts and resistance in the move to holacracy Leadership, change management

In their words

What students say

4.50 out of 5 average teaching rating · 8 sections · 266 student responses · all evaluations

Professor Collier is a great professor! His main goal is students learning the principles and applying them in real life.

Fall 2012

Professor Collier organizes the course in such a way that the large amount of work seems less and interesting. His teaching method is very student friendly.

Fall 2014

I thought this class would be a burden, but it was the opposite, the things we learn about in this class are very useful for our future.

Fall 2014

One of the best courses this semester; loved the way it was structured and thoroughly enjoyed the content, especially the simulations!

Fall 2013

Offerings

When I taught it

  • Summer 2011 (Pittsburgh)
  • Fall 2012 (Doha, 2 sections)
  • Fall 2013 (Doha, 2 sections)
  • Fall 2014 (Doha, 2 sections)
  • Spring 2016 (Doha, 1 section)
  • Fall 2016 (Pittsburgh, 1 section)

All courses