Organisational

Behaviour
Exam Revision
Exam Structure
Answer 3 questions from 8

It is a 2 hour exam

40 minutes per question manage your time

precisely

All questions equally weighted 100 marks for each

question divided by three to arrive at overall mark
Exam Topics
(Those in brackets will potentially be on supplementary exam)

Personality and (values)

Emotions
Perception and communication
Motivation and (engagement)
Groups and teams
Leadership and (power)
Culture and (structure)
Organisational change and (Stress)
Revision and Preparation
Revise the lecture notes and slides - Use these as
guide to specific topics for further revision and
deeper understanding

Develop your understanding of the topics with

further reading

Make sure you have a number of relevant examples

and case studies that can be used to support the
discussion in each of your chosen topic areas
Before You Write

Do your preparation, which will help you relax during

the exam
Read questions carefully, assess what they are asking
Choose 3 based on knowledge, interest & preparation
Outline towards coherence, logic, structure, with your
audience in mind, so communicate your answer to
the question clearly
Plan your time exactly 40 minutes per question
A Strong Answer Would Demonstrate:
Good knowledge of a range of concepts and theories
associated with Organisational Behaviour, including citing key
authors & models relevant to the question
A well developed ability to analyse, synthesise and apply
knowledge and concepts to the question asked
Answers are well structured and ideas are expressed clearly
Evidence of background reading beyond the lecture materials
and sound preparation/revision activities
Interesting and relevant examples are used in a constructive
way to develop and support the analysis
Good time management with full answers for the required
number of questions
Individuals
Personality differences between personality and behaviour,
nomothetic vs. ideographic, Big 5 (OCEAN), MBTI (E-I, S-N, T-F, J-P),
Holland Career types. Role of personality in firms, personality clash.
Emotions what is an emotion including affect and mood, its role
in organisations being critical to rational thinking, emotional
expression options, and emotional labour surface vs. deep acting,
aggression, emotional & social intelligence and stroking
Perception perceptual set, filters habituation, distortions including
stereotyping, halo vs. horns effect and primacy vs. recency effect,
generic model, managing impressions. Also Kellys covariation
attribution model looking at internal vs. external causation.
Perception can frame our communication.
Communication generic model, helping & hindering forces,
networks, upward, downward, lateral communication, non-verbal
communication, TA and NLP
Groups
Motivation content (Maslow, Herzberg), vs. process
(expectancy, goal setting, equity) theories, job design, role of
pay and performance, managing talent, ROWE, engagement as
the new form of motivation
Teams types of teams, effective vs. ineffective teams,
conformity, compliance, obedience, group think, barriers
(social loafing, etc.), measures to overcome barriers, task and
process model, importance of team composition (Belbin) and
structure, team development stages, Johari Window, issues in
virtual teams
Leadership trait (born vs. made), style (Tannenbaum, Ohio &
Michigan) & situational approaches (Goleman, Hersey &
Blanchard). Charisma and its dark side, new leadership
(transactional & transformational), authentic and servant
leadership. Do be aware of link between leadership & power.
Organisations
Culture
- what is role and function of organisational culture,
how might it be formed, cultural framework, types of
culture (Handy), advantages and disadvantages of
strong organizational culture and whether culture
can be managed, strategy for culture change. Know
process of strategy culture structure progression
Change planned vs. emergent approaches, nature
vs. scope of change, Lewins change model, force-
field analysis, role and sources of resistance along
with tactics to manage it, Kotter, Beckhard. OD
intervention cube, Carnalls transition curve stress
during change.
What To Aim For in the Exam
After deciding on which three questions you are going
to answer:
- Read each question carefully & answer all questions
- Plan out your answer by way of a brief outline
- Chose relevant theory to include in your answer
along with examples, cases and implications
- In your writing, use evidence, lead the reader, write
clearly and logically and link theory to practice
where relevant
- Finish with a brief conclusion, ensure you answered
the question manage your time effectively
Practice Questions
Why might engagement be viewed as an extension
of motivation and what is the difference between
the two of them?

How might power be useful to a leader, and what

types of power might be more effective in
motivating followers?
Questions?