A Mockumentary as a Mock-Experience: Using 'The Office' to Solidify Understanding of Organizational Behavior Topics

Kristie M. Rogers; Robert G. DelCampo; Harry J. Van Buren III

A Mockumentary as a Mock-Experience: Using “The Office” to Solidify Understanding of Organizational Behavior Topics

Kristie M. Rogers

Arizona State University, USA

Robert G. DelCampo and Harry J. Van Buren III

University of New Mexico, USA

Volume 3: 2010, pp. 25-40; ABSTRACT

Many of the concepts that students learn are disconnected from their life experiences. Using cases might be pedagogically helpful, but they are often easily forgotten. To enrich case-based learning for organizational behavior (“OB”) instruction, we propose two sample cases that feature popular-culture television to better engage a student generation who grew up watching television regularly. Examples of dialogue from the pilot episode of the American version of “The Office” are used in the paper as examples of how this television show can be used in OB classes to illustrate and elucidate topics such as organizational culture, job insecurity, and downsizing.

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