MGMT20001 · Organisational Behaviour
The Complete Exam Bible · S1 2026Organisational Behaviour
Organisational Behaviour is the systematic study of how people think, feel and act in and around organisations — taught here the critical/sociological way. MGMT20001 runs on one spine: a micro half (perception, values, motivation, teams, conflict) and a macro half (ethics, change, culture, communication, power), each macro topic taught by the case method on a real organisation. The 2-hour final exam is 50% and covers the whole canon — every theorist, model and flagship case — so this guide teaches each idea to exam standard: what it is, who proposed it, the case the unit attaches it to, and how to argue it under exam time.
What MGMT20001 covers
Twelve modules → one micro–macro revision map. Each links to its free chapter guide.
How MGMT20001 is assessed
| Component | Weight | Format |
|---|---|---|
| End-of-semester exam | 50% | 2-hour written, exam period · covers the full micro + macro canon |
| Group case-study report | 30% | ~5000-word team report (define → apply with evidence → recommend) |
| Individual assignment | 10% | ~1000 words on an early micro topic, individually written |
| Tutorial prep & participation | 10% | Two-step prep quiz each module + contribution — confirm the exact split in your subject guide |
The three dimensions of power — reading a founder-leader, mark by mark
- +1Define power & its basis. Power is the capacity to influence others; its engine is dependence — A has power over B to the extent B depends on A for something valued, scarce and non-substitutable.
- +11st dimension — decision-making. The leader wins open disputes through legitimate (founder/CEO) authority, reward (equity) and coercive (rapid exits) power. This is the visible face: you can see who prevails.
- +12nd dimension — agenda-setting. ‘Rival options seldom reach the table’ is non-decision power: controlling what is even discussable keeps some conflicts from ever surfacing.
- +13rd dimension — unobtrusive / ideological. A compelling mission story shapes what staff want, so they internalise punishing hours as their own choice. Hardy (1985) calls this unobtrusive power — exercised through meaning, language and ideology.
- +1Address the trap. ‘Staff rarely complain’ reads, on the 3rd-dimension view, as the strongest evidence of power: preferences were shaped so well that resistance never formed. Absence of conflict can be evidence of power, not its absence.
- +1Judge the ethics & recommend. Concentrated, partly invisible power raises the ethical stakes — it can erode the upward voice that would flag harm. Recommend protected voice channels and independent oversight so the unobtrusive third dimension stays accountable.
Key terms
- Organisational behaviour (OB)
- The systematic study of how people think, feel and act in and around organisations — at the individual, group and organisational levels — in order to improve organisational effectiveness. The unit’s claim: systematic evidence beats ‘common sense’.
- Fundamental attribution error (FAE)
- The tendency, when judging others, to over-weight their disposition (character) and under-weight the situation. Paired with self-serving bias (credit our wins, blame the situation for our losses) and the actor–observer effect.
- Bounded rationality
- Herbert Simon’s correction to the rational decision model: real deciders have limited information, time and processing, so they satisfice — take the first ‘good enough’ option rather than the optimal one.
- Three dimensions of power
- Lukes’ framework (taught via Hardy): 1st = visible decision-making, 2nd = agenda-setting / non-decisions, 3rd = unobtrusive / ideological power that shapes preferences so no conflict appears. An absence of conflict can be evidence of power, not its absence.
- Organisational culture
- The pattern of shared values and basic assumptions members learn as ‘how we do things around here’. Schein’s three levels — artefacts, espoused values, basic assumptions — read three ways: integrationist, differentiationist and critical.
MGMT20001 FAQ
Is MGMT20001 hard?
It is broad rather than technical. The challenge is breadth and precision: the 50% final covers every theorist, model and flagship case across the micro and macro halves, and rewards applying a named theory to a case under time. There is little calculation — the difficulty is recall-and-apply across a large canon.
How is MGMT20001 assessed?
Four pieces: a 2-hour end-of-semester exam (50%), a group case-study report (30%), an individual assignment (10%) and tutorial prep & participation (10%). The exam is the only piece testing the whole canon. Confirm this year’s exact weights and dates in your subject guide.
What is on the MGMT20001 final exam?
The full micro + macro canon: perception and attribution, values and attitudes, motivation, teams and leadership, conflict and negotiation, then ethics, change, culture, communication and power. Macro topics are scored on the case-method spine — define → apply with evidence → recommend.
Is MGMT20001 open-book?
The subject’s materials do not state whether the paper is open- or closed-book, so this guide makes no such claim — treat it as exam revision and confirm exam conditions on your unit outline. Either way the exam rewards knowing the canon cold, not looking things up.
Is using AskSia for MGMT20001 cheating?
No. AskSia is a study reference written in our own words to mirror what the subject examines — we host none of your lecturer’s files, and Sia teaches you the method to earn the marks; it does not complete or sit your assessments.
How to study for the exam
Master the spine first — micro (perception → values → motivation → teams → conflict) then macro (ethics → change → culture → communication → power) — because the 50% exam tests breadth on demand. For every model, bank three things: what it is, who proposed it, and which case the unit attaches it to (Theranos, CBA, Uber, Musk, Boost Juice). Drill the define → apply-with-evidence → recommend spine on the macro chapters — it is exactly how the report and the case-style exam answers are marked. And reach for the evidence over ‘common sense’: when a stem sounds obviously true (a bonus motivates, strong culture is better, all conflict is bad), the exam is usually testing whether you know the finding that overturns it.
