Course Title: Managerial Psychology

Part A: Course Overview

Course Title: Managerial Psychology

Credit Points: 12


Course Code

Campus

Career

School

Learning Mode

Teaching Period(s)

BUSM4113

City Campus

Postgraduate

660H Grad School of Bus and Law

Face-to-Face

Sem 2 2011

Course Coordinator: Professor John Toohey

Course Coordinator Phone: +61 3 9925 0134

Course Coordinator Email:john.toohey@rmit.edu.au


Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities

Students are expected to be studying in the MBA or MBA(Executive) programs.


Course Description

 Managers are judged by the quality of their decisions but often they know little about the processes behind their decision making and the strategies to improve these decisions. This course examines the philosophical and normative underpinnings of beliefs and behaviours and their influences on managerial thinking and business decisions. It examines the influence of brain function and dysfunction on human performance and considers the implications for business outcomes. The course also addresses the dynamics of group decision making. The influence of occupational stress on decisions and performance is examined and personal and organisational strategies are developed to achieve positive outcomes.


Objectives/Learning Outcomes/Capability Development


It is expected that at the end of the course you will have developed the following capabilities:
• understand the scope and complexity of the field of managerial psychology;
• appreciate the philosophical and cultural underpinnings of human behaviour,
• understand the basis physiology of brain functioning and the impact of disease and dysfunction of behaviour
• understand the factors influencing effective and ineffective decision making and the application of these factors to business decisions and corporate strategy making;
• understand the dynamics of personal and organisational performance through insights from the field of managerial psychology.
• understanding the phenomenon of work stress – its effects and management.
• develop personal and organisational decision performance strategies based on the principles outline in the course.



Overview of Learning Activities

 
To achieve the objectives of this course, you are required to participate in various learning activities as follows:

• Engaging in research using hard copy publications, electronic databases and internet searching
• Participation in group and class discussion
• Producing robust group and individual assignment work


Overview of Learning Resources

 
There is no set text for this course. The learning resources will include:

Journal articles
Including:
• Journal of Applied Psychology
• Journal of Organisational Behaviour
• Personnel Psychology
• Nature Neuroscience 

Ben Newell, David Lagnado and David Shanks. (2007), Straight Choices: The Psychology of Decision Making. Psychology Press

Janet Davidson and Robert Sternberg (2003). The Psychology of Problem Solving. Cambridge

Gary Lynch and Richard Granger. Big Brain: The Origins and Future of Human Intelligence (2008). Palgrave Macmillan

Jonah Lehrer. The Decisive Moment: How the Brain makes up its Mind (2009). Text Publishing Company

Norman Doidge. The Brain That Changes Itself. (2007). Scribe


Overview of Assessment

Group and individual assignments.