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East Tennessee State University • Department of Engineering Technology
ENTC 4017/5017 • Industrial Supervision • Fall 2012
pdf of syllabus here

General Info

Course Description, Credit Hours, and Prerequisites


    ENTC 4017/5017-904 Industrial Supervision (3 credit hours) — This course involves the study of issues involved between the supervisor and his/her employees and is designed to prepare students to be successful supervisors. There are five main parts to this course: What is a supervisor?, Modern Supervision Challenges, Functions of the Supervisor, Skills of the Supervisor, and Supervision and Human Resources.

Course Objectives


    As an outcome of successful completion of the course, the student should be able to:
    •              Define what a supervisor is and his/her general functions 
    •              Describe the basic types of supervisory skills 
    •              Describe how the growing diversity of the work force affects the supervisor’s role 
    •              Identify the stages in the development of groups. 
    •              Provide guidelines for conducting effective meetings 
    •              Define ethics, and explain how organizations specify standards for ethical behavior 
    •              Identify ways to make ethical decisions 
    •              Define whistleblowers, and describe how the supervisor should treat such employees 
    •              Describe the impact of automation and information technology on the modern workplace 
    •              Identify characteristics of effective objectives 
    •              Identify basic ways in which organizations are structured and differences between line and staff 
    •              Describe key principles of organizing and leadership 
    •              Identify the steps in the rational model of decision making 
    •              Discuss advantages and disadvantages of making decisions in groups 
    •              Describe techniques for communicating effectively 
    •              Describe content and process theories of motivation 
    •              Identify ways supervisors can motivate their employees 
    •              Describe how productivity and productivity improvements are measured 
    •              Identify common types of problem behavior among employees 
    •              Describe the principles of positive discipline and self-discipline 
    •              Describe ways to plan the use of time 
    •              Summarize consequences of stress 
    •              Describe strategies for managing stress 
    •              Discuss supervisor’s roles in selecting employees 
    •              List key components of the orientation and training process of supervisors 
    •              Identify the steps in appraising employee performance systematically 
    •              Describe sources of bias in appraising performance 
    •              Discuss key laws affecting supervisors

Texts and Materials


    Certo, S. C.. Supervision: Concepts and Skill Building.  Chicago. IL: Irwin. 
    Any edition will be sufficient.

Attendance Policy


    Participate in all class assignments and activities, or you grade will suffer.
    Students are responsible for the material covered in all class sessions as well as all assignments.

Evaluation and Grading


    Tentative Assignments:

     

    CLASS

     

    DATE

     

    TOPIC

     

    ASSIGNMENTS

     

    Week 1

     

    Aug 27 - Aug 31

     

    Introduction and Course Overview;

     

    Syllabus

     

    Week 2

     

    Sep 3 – Sep 7

     

    Part 1:  What is a Supervisor?

     

    Read:  Chapters 1 — 5

     

    Week 3

     

    Sep 10 – Sep 14

     

    Part 2:  Modern Supervison Challenges.

     

    Quiz 1

     

    Week 4

     

    Sep 17 – Sep 21

     

    Part 3:  Functions of a Supervisor.

     

    Quiz 2:  Chapters 1—5

     

    Week 5

     

    Sep 24 – Sep 28

     

     

    Read:  Chapter 6 — 9

     

    Week 6

     

    Oct 1 – Oct 5

     

     

    Quiz 3:  Chapters 6—9

     

    Week 7

     

    Oct 8 – Oct 12

     

    Part 4:  Communications.

     

    Read:  Chapters 10 — 15

     

    Week 8

     

    Oct 15 – Oct 19

     

     

    Essay:  Ethics in the Movies.

     

    Week 9

     

    Oct 22 – Oct 26

     

     

    Essay Test (Chapters 1—9)

     

    Week 10

     

    Oct 29 – Nov 2

     

    Part 5:  Supervision & Human Resources.

     

    Quiz 4:  Chapters 10 — 15

     

    Week 11

     

    Nov 5 – Nov 9

     

     

    Read:  Chapters 11—19

     

    Week 12

     

    Nov 12 – Nov 16

     

     

    Term paper:  Diversity in the Workplace or The Effects of Improving Productivity

     

    Week 13

     

    Nov 19 - Nov 23

     

     

    Quiz 5:  Chapters 11—19

     

    Week 14

     

    Nov 26 - Nov 30

     

     

    Essay:   (Presidential Leadership Style).

     

    Week 15

     

    Dec 3 – Dec 7

     

     

    Final Exam (Chapters 1—19).

    Exams & Quizzes
    There will be two essay exams:  Each exam will focus on a basic understanding of the concepts covered prior to the examination.  Exams will include material covered in lecture notes, text material, and other assignments as may arise.  You will be responsible for all reading assignments.
    There will be approximately 5 quizzes worth 2 points each for a total of 10 points.  These quizzes will be listed on the website.  If there are more or less quizzes, the average of the quizzes will be multiplied by 5 to provide points for this activity.  There will be no make-ups for missed quizzes. Term Papers--General Guidelines
    There will be an 8-12 page term paper in this course due towards the end of the semester.  You may choose one of two topics:
    1.         Diversity in the Workplace or 
    2.         The Effects of Improving Productivity   
    Late Term Papers will be penalized at least 5 points.
    The papers should be in American Psychological Association (APA) format.  Refer to the Resources listed on the web page for more information on APA style.  Briefly, the research paper must be double-spaced and typed left justified on regular 8.5" x 11" paper with margins of 1" (top, bottom, left, right).  The paper should be typed in Times Roman 12 point font and should be a paper of the appropriate number of pages. The paper will have at least 4-6 references and should be written in the third person (i.e., limit the use the word "I" in your paper).  References should be journal articles.  Books or book chapters (including your text and all dictionaries) are NOT to be used as references since these are typically not as up to date as the previously mentioned articles. Additionally, personal interviews are not considered an acceptable reference. All papers must be submitted in a standard format (preferably .rtf or .doc). This is a professional paper and colloquialisms (e.g., "a lot of" vs. "many"; "bugged" vs. "upset"; "doesn’t have a clue" vs. "does not understand"; "all the time in the world" vs. "much time") and contractions (e.g., they’ve, aren’t) should be avoided. Also avoid lengthy quotations.  Your instructor does not want to read an entire paper of pure quotes.  Part of your job is to read and interpret the references. Additionally, back up what you say with references/documentation. Do not say things like: "Males have worse attendance records than females" without a reference to back it up.  I am from Missouri when it comes to term papers--so show me!  Say instead, "Blanton (2004) reported that males have worse attendance than females."  Be sure that you cite the references in the body of the paper and then list the references in alphabetical order on the References page of your paper.  Significant grade reductions will occur for poor punctuation, grammar, or spelling, or for insufficient references, or for incoherent/awkward or run-on sentences.  Papers less than the appropriate words will be significantly penalized.  Significant grade increases will be given for particularly creative and well written papers. 
    Submit all assignments via D2L dropbox. Please retain a disk copy of your paper in the event your paper is misplaced or lost.  Send materials on time. Your paper should include at least three references from the following journals:
    Academy of Management Executive
    Journal of Labor Economics
    Academy of Management Journal
    Journal of Labor Research
    Academy of Management Review
    Journal of Management
    Administration and Society
    Journal of Management Education
    Administrative Science Quarterly
    Journal of Management Studies
    American Psychologist
    Journal of Occupational Behavior
    Arbitration Journal
    Journal of Organizational Behavior Management
    Business and Public Affairs
    Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
    Business Horizons
    Journal of Vocational Behavior
    California Management Review
    Labor Law Journal
    Columbia Journal of World Business
    Monthly Labor Review
    Compensation and Benefits Review
    Negotiation Journal
    Group and Organization Management
    Occupational psychology
    Harvard Business Review
    Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes
    HR Magazine
    Organizational Dynamics
    Human Relations
    Personnel Journal
    Human Resources Planning
    Personnel Psychology
    Industrial Labor Relations Review
    Psychological Bulletin
    Industrial Relations
    Public Administration Quarterly
    Journal of Applied Behavioral Science
    Public Personnel Management
    Journal of Applied Psychology
    Review of Business and Economic Research
    Journal of Business & Entrepreneurship
    Review of  Small Business Management
    Journal of Business Research
    SAM Advanced Management Journal
    Journal of Conflict Resolution
    Sloan Management Review
    Journal of Collective Negotiations in the Public Sector
    Social Forces
    Journal of Human Resources
    Training and Development
    Please use the ABI_Inform Database available through the library http://sherrod.etsu.edu/tools/articles.html
    Assigned Essays
    There will be two assigned essays:  Ethics in the Movies and Presidential Leadership Style.
    Ethics in the Movies
     
    Review one of the following movies:
        a) Philadelphia (1994)
        b) The Insider (1999)
        c) Erin Brokovitch (2000)
        d) Thank You for Smoking (2005)
        e) Other movies to review must be approved by instructor
    Ethics in the Movies is a short paper (no more than four pages) over the topic.  The ethical dilemma must be addressed using information from the course or other material.  Students should answer the some of the following questions based on information learned throughout the course:
        a) What is the key ethical dilemma in this movie?
        b) What action do decision makers take in response to this dilemma?
        c) What code of values are decision makers following in this movie?
        d) If you were in their situation, what action would you take?
        e) Why would you take that action--what does your proposed action say about your code of ethics?
    Rather than just list the questions and then answer them please generate an interesting paper that addresses the points above.  Two to four pages (Times Roman 12 point font).
    I do not want your opinions unless you can corroborate them from other sources.
    The instructor expects there to be a clear structure (introduction regarding the ethical dilemma, body of the paper discussing general beliefs as proposed by Certo or other authors in periodicals. and a conclusion regarding how you think the existing thought regarding ethics applies to the movie you choose.
    Presidential Leadership Style
    Using the information regarding leadership styles from the Certo book on Supervision and other research material, determine the leadership style of one of the following Presidents:
        a) Ronald Reagan--40th President
        b) Bill Clinton--42nd President
        c) George W. Bush--43rd President
        d) Barack Obama--44rd President
    Presidential Leadership Style is a short paper (no more than four pages) over the topic.  The leadership style must be fully developed using information from the course or other research material.  Students should answer the some of the following questions based on information learned throughout the course:
        a) What is the key leadership style of the President?
        b) What reportable actions lead you to conclude the leadership style you chose?
        c)  If you were the President, what leadership style would you follow?
    Rather than just list the questions and then answer them please generate an interesting paper that addresses the points above.  Two to four pages (Times Roman 12 point font).
    I do not want your opinions unless you can corroborate them from other sources.
    The instructor expects there to be a clear structure (introduction regarding the leadership style, body of the paper discussing general beliefs as proposed by Certo or other authors in periodicals regarding the leadership style, and a conclusion regarding how you think the existing thought regarding leadership style applies to the President you choose.
    Revisions 
    If you are not satisfied with your grade on the two essays, you may turn one and only one revision for each.  Revision means literally "seeing again," developing a new perspective on the writing task. Just correcting the original work based on my comments or your own observations will not be accepted as revision; instead, you'll have to rewrite the document significantly. Some revisions can raise your grade.  All revisions should help you learn more about writing well. I’m happy to help you to revise. I highly recommend that you check in with me at some point before you submit a revised assignment so I can help you focus on the most important areas, brainstorm options, assess your progress, and otherwise assist you to improve.
    Revisions of two assignments can be submitted for re-grading.  No risk is involved (you cannot receive a lower grade than the one originally assigned) but neither do you have a guarantee of earning a higher grade for your effort. In order to insure that you work hard on your initial assignments, revision grades will not be more than one full grade higher than the original grade. Revision grades replace the original grades rather than being averaged with them.
    The original document containing my comments and grade must accompany the revision, along with old and new background material.  You may submit a revised assignment at any time during the semester. Essay 1 revisions are due one week before the last day of class—no exceptions.  Essay 2 revisions are due the last day of class—no exceptions.  Students often find it useful to delay revision until later in the semester for the following reasons:
    1.        They can apply the additional course material to improve their writing 
    2.        They learn by practicing their writing skills in other assignments 
    3.        They gain perspective by putting the work away for a time 
    4.        They have more assignments to consider for revision, so they can choose the ones that will count most toward their course grade

     

    Grading Structure
    Required Tasks                                                                                                 Point Value
    Mid-Term Exam……………………………………………………………………25 points
    Assigned Essay Paper……………………………………………………………10 points
    Assigned Topic Term Paper……………………………………….……………..20 points
    Ethics in the Movies Paper…………………………………………..……………10 points
    Quizzes………………………………………………………………...…………..10 points
    Final Exam………………………………………………………………….………25 points
    Total Course Points……...……………………………………………..….…….100 points
    Minimum Score to Receive
    A = 90
    B+ = 87
    B = 83
    B- = 80
    C+ = 77
    C = 73
    C- = 70
    D+ = 67
    D = 60
    F = Below 60%

    Homework & Assignments:
    A test, exercise, or paper may be given (or submitted) early for a University sponsored absence (please provide suitable notice, if possible). Make-up tests may be given at the discretion of the instructor and only if a student presents suitable documentation (evidence) explaining the (emergency) absence to the instructor.

    Quizzes and exams may include any material covered in the lectures, assigned readings, videos, classroom discussions or exercises.

Academic Misconduct, Disabilities, Counseling, Dates, Tutoring, etc.


    http://www.etsu.edu/reg/academics/syllabus.aspx
    Students with documented needs for note taking, test taking, or other classroom accommodations should make arrangements with the instructor early in the term. Contact the ETSU Disability Services, Lower Level D.P. Culp Center (Seahorn Rd. entrance)
    Voice: (423) 439-8346; Fax: (423) 439-8489; TDD: (423) 439-8370


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