Organizational Behaviour in McGill’s Desautels Faculty of Management focuses on the human aspects of organizations:
- how individuals and groups behave and interact;
- how the employment relationship and the nature of work are changing in a rapidly shifting global business and societal context;
- how organizational structures, practices, and processes evolve in response to internal and external dynamics and have a powerful effect on individuals, groups, and society at large.
Drawing on a full range of theories and methods, the area is committed to conducting research that helps to understand an array of workplace phenomena as well as advance greater equality and social sustainability in contemporary society and our increasingly globally-integrated world.
Research
Faculty members’ research interests are wide-ranging and focus on issues such as leadership, cross-cultural management, job design, career mobility, identity construction, gender and employment, social networks, organizational change, and values-based organizations. Learn more about individual research projects in our area.
An annual speaker series is organized to bring in top scholars from around the world to talk about their research and to meet with individual faculty and doctoral students.
In addition to our individual pursuits, our faculty members are also affiliated with two research centres:
- The Centre for Strategy Studies in Organizations: The centre promotes the execution and dissemination of research on issues central to organizations. The centre’s members employ diverse approaches to strategy and strategic change research, including longitudinal/qualitative and advanced quantitative methods. Issues focus on the formation of strategic direction, the coordination of organizational activities, and the relationship between organizations and society.
- The Business and Management Research Centre: A research incubator that plays a range of catalytic roles in developing and partially funding a number of research initiatives through seed grants, travel grants, and lecture and teaching support, etc.
Teaching
The faculty in our discipline develop innovative teaching programs and novel pedagogical approaches that provide our undergraduate and graduate students with expertise in multiple domains:
- A Bachelor of Commerce concentration in Organizational Behaviour
- A Bachelor of Commerce concentration in Labour Management Relations and Human Resources
- A Bachelor of Commerce major in Organizational Behaviour
- A Master of Business Administration specialization in Global Strategy and Leadership
- A PhD specialization in Organizational Behaviour
- A range of courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels
- Bachelor of Commerce courses
- Master of Business Administration courses
- PhD courses
Students in McGill’s doctoral program in Organizational Behaviour take courses from McGill’s Organizational Behaviour faculty as well as from the Faculties of Concordia University, HEC Montréal, and Université du Québec à Montréal. Upon admission, each student will be assigned a supervisor in the discipline who will assist in selecting those courses that best suit the student's interests while satisfying program requirements. Specialization courses may be selected from offerings of the four participating universities.
Students are generally expected to complete their course work in the first two years, which comprises Phase I of their studies, and then must take their Comprehensive Exam in the following summer. By Year 3 students have identified their area(s) of research interest and are expected to form a Phase II committee including a Chair, which then guides their work on a theory or research paper. Once this paper is completed and approved by the Phase II Committee, the student enters Phase III, which involves forming the Phase III Committee and Chair that will supervise writing and defending a thesis proposal, carrying out the actual research and then writing and defending the thesis.
We are also well-connected to organizations in our immediate community and beyond, with both private corporations and not-for-profit organizations. In particular, members of our Faculty’s Global Experts program contribute to our classrooms through guest lectures.
Desautels Global Experts
Members of the Desautels Global Experts program contribute to our classrooms through guest lectures. As practitioners in the industry, they contribute to our students' learning experience.