A keen focus for Edinburgh Business School at Heriot Watt University is leading teams and managing people. Linda Buchan is assistant professor of Organizational Behavior and head of HR and Law at Edinburgh Business School.
“We encourage our students to do this as the first course of their MBA journey. No matter what your discipline or your role, in organizations you're going to be interacting with people. People are the core of every organization, and people are our most important asset,” Linda explains.
Linda’s course aims to equip students with an understanding of the factors influencing how people behave at work, and how these link to performance. It looks at the past, present, and future of organizational behavior to prepare the next generation of business leaders to lead effectively.
Understanding diversity
Modules on the course cover Individual Differences, Work Group Dynamics, and Organizational Culture. Students learn about emotional intelligence, how to manage diversity, neurodiversity, and psychological capital. They also take part in a personality assessment.
“One size doesn't fit all when it comes to leading and managing people,” says Linda. “The more we can appreciate individual differences and diversity amongst those we work with, the more effective we can be as managers.
“I think this course is very useful for those who are just starting their management career. It gives them insight into how management evolved as a concept and what it means to be a manager in a 21st-century organization.”
With diversity, accessibility, and inclusion top of the agenda for many companies right now, it is vital that those who will become the next generation of management know the value of learning about organizational behavior and people management. Behavior at work reflects behavior in wider society.
“All behavior happens at work,” Linda asserts. “We make friends at work, 22% of people meet their partner at work, we build careers; work can be a hugely enhancing part of our lives, but it can also be a really negative part of our lives.”
Virtual leadership
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the way we work has changed. A hybrid form of working will likely become the norm, seeing workers split their time between the office and a remote workspace.
The generation of MBA candidates looking at business school now will need to develop digital empathy, the ability to effectively build and lead remote teams. By choosing to study an online MBA and work with peers from around the world, candidates will be learning to lead in a space that mimics the real world of today.
One of the modules on Linda’s course—Understanding Behavior in Organizations—teaches students how to manage a global workforce and how to manage in the 21st century. That helps students build the core competencies required to lead virtually. Throughout the module students critically evaluate the role of management, and how management behavior can impact individual, team, and organization performance.
“From what I've seen, really good leaders are measured” explains Linda, “but they've also been very human in terms of recognizing that leading from home is difficult; not just the practicalities of home-schooling, or the fact that people suddenly find themselves working at their kitchen table, it's also the emotional uncertainty that's come with the pandemic.”
Work is all about people
Successful organizations revolve around their people. High performing teams are kept motivated and engaged—the focus of one of Linda’s modules.
Students are taught to understand how performance management and reward systems impact individual motivation and performance. They’re also taught about performance management, theories of motivation, and job design.
Some of the knowledge students of Edinburgh Business School's online MBA acquire during the degree is applicable across disciplines. Linda’s People, Work, and Organizations course is no different. To lead successfully anywhere requires a close understanding of people.
“HR professionals provide specific value to organizations, whereas organizational behavior is useful for everybody to know, regardless of which discipline you work in,” Linda asserts.
“If you're going to be a finance manager, or a lawyer, or a project manager, you're always going to have to deal with people. Therefore, the more you understand what makes people tick, what it is about the workplace that affects people's behavior, the more effective you'll be in whatever job you do.”
