BUS603: Managing People

Welcome to BUS603: Managing People

Specific information about this course and its requirements can be found below. For more general information about taking Saylor Academy courses, including information about Community and Academic Codes of Conduct, please read the Student Handbook.

Course Description

Understand people at the individual and group levels to effectively manage diverse teams within an organization by incorporating organizational design and human resource management principles.

Course Introduction

There is no more important function in business than managing its people. All the business units depend on the people that work within that department. The productivity of the firm and its ability to compete in today's dynamic business environment hinges entirely on the ability of the people within it to achieve the firm's strategic goals.

In this graduate-level course, we will examine the task of managing people from multiple perspectives. Workers come to the firm with individual attributes and become part of the group dynamic. This course draws from management theory, sociology and psychology, communication theory, leadership theory, and systems theory to provide a comprehensive view of all the factors that affect the management of people. We then apply those theoretical perspectives to practical applications in the business world. Finally, we consider the effect of destructive practices and offer insights into positive practices to manage people.

This course includes the following units:

• Unit 1: Individual Behavior
• Unit 2: Motivation
• Unit 3: Business Communication
• Unit 4: Managing Human Capital
• Unit 5: Leadership
• Unit 6: Managing Groups and Teams
• Unit 7: Creating a Winning Organizational Culture
• Unit 8: Organizational Change, Politics, and Power
  

Course Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to:

• analyze the behaviors of individuals and groups in teams and organizations;
• identify factors that affect motivation and employee motivational theories that increase productivity;
• develop communication skills to manage diverse groups of people and create effective teams;
• manage teams effectively to enhance individual and organizational effectiveness in a complex business environment;
• assess ethical decision-making in high-performance organizations in management and leadership situations;
• evaluate the effect of a diverse work environment on managerial decision-making and human resource decisions;
• evaluate frameworks that support managerial decision-making and improve organizational efficiencies; and
• develop strategies for managing people within the organizational culture through times of volatility.
  

Throughout this course, you will also see learning outcomes in each unit. You can use those learning outcomes to help organize your studies and gauge your progress.

Course Materials

The primary learning materials for this course are readings, lectures, and videos.

All course materials are free to access and can be found in each unit of the course. Pay close attention to the notes that accompany these course materials, as they will tell you what to focus on in each resource and will help you to understand how the learning materials fit into the course as a whole. You can also see a list of all the learning materials in this course by clicking on Resources in the navigation bar.

Evaluation and Minimum Passing Score

Only the final exam is considered when awarding you a grade for this course. In order to pass this course, you will need to earn a 70% or higher on the final exam. Your score on the exam will be calculated as soon as you complete it. If you do not pass the exam on your first try, you may take it again as many times as you want, with a 7-day waiting period between each attempt. Once you have successfully passed the final exam, you will be awarded a free Course Completion Certificate.

There are also end-of-unit assessments in this course. These are designed to help you study and do not factor into your final course grade. You can take these as many times as you want to until you understand the concepts and material covered. You can see all of these assessments by clicking on Quizzes in the course's navigation bar.

Tips for Success

BUS603: Managing People is a self-paced course, which means that you can decide when you will start and when you will complete the course. There is no instructor or set schedule to follow. We estimate that the "average" student will take 66 hours to complete this course. We recommend that you work through the course at a pace that is comfortable for you and allows you to make regular progress. It's a good idea to also schedule your study time in advance and try as best as you can to stick to that schedule.

Learning new material can be challenging, so we've compiled a few study strategies to help you succeed:

• Take notes on the various terms, practices, and theories that you come across. This can help you put each concept into context and will create a refresher that you can use as you study later on.
• As you work through the materials, take some time to test yourself on what you remember and how well you understand the concepts. Reflecting on what you've learned is important for your long-term memory and will make you more likely to retain information over time.

Technical Requirements

This course is delivered entirely online. You will be required to have access to a computer or web-capable mobile device and have consistent access to the internet to either view or download the necessary course resources and to attempt any auto-graded course assessments and the final exam.

• To access the full course, including assessments and the final exam, you will need to be logged into your Saylor Academy account and enrolled in the course. If you do not already have an account, you may create one for free here. Although you can access some of the course without logging in to your account, you should log in to maximize your course experience. For example, you cannot take assessments or track your progress unless you are logged in.

For additional guidance, check out Saylor Academy's FAQ.

Fees

This course is entirely free to enroll in and to access. Everything linked in the course, including textbooks, videos, webpages, and activities, are all available for no charge. This course also contains a free final exam and course completion certificate.