uwloo

SCBUS 225Organizational Behaviour in Scientific and Technical Workplaces

Units
0.50
Faculty
Science
Subject
Science and Business

When it runs

  1. F24
  2. W25
  3. S25
  4. F25
  5. W26
  6. S26
  7. F26
  8. W27
  9. S27

Ran in 2 of the last 7 terms. Winter 2027: not on the schedule. Spring 2027: schedule not out yet.

This workshop uses case studies, lectures, and discussions to explore a basic understanding of how organizations work, and how people interact within organizations in order to achieve ethical human, organizational, and social objectives. This course considers organizational structure and models, ethics, organizational theory, organizational culture, motivation, diversity, negotiation, communication, leadership, and management, and how these principles are applied in startups or scientific and technical environments. There is a major project that focuses on an aspect of organizational behaviour in a scientific or technical firm or application, and is presented in writing and orally.

Prerequisites

Antirequisites

None listed.

Leads to

Reviewed on UW Flow

46% liked it71% easy25% useful

From 24 ratings and 5 comments on UW Flow. The most helpful comments, quoted as written, without names. Read them all on UW Flow.

  • Rating only for recent version of the course taught by Alex, don't let the past course reviews with other profs scare you from this course. Alex has refreshed the course completely using his industry experience making it relevant.

    Mar 2026 · liked itOn UW FlowRemove this

  • Too much emphasis on memorization and mandatory attendance (due to students not wanting to be there). Instructor read from the slides. Course has the potential to be interesting and engaging. Expect to almost fail the midterms, but ace the presentations to finish in the 70s.

    Aug 2023 · didn’t like itOn UW FlowRemove this

  • Mandatory 3 hour lectures. Professor just reads notes the whole class and TAs are useless. Don't expect email replies and expect marks deducted for "lack of participation and absenteeism". You can get 80s/90s on everything and end up with a mid 70 for final grade. However, easy to succeed if you brown-nose the professor and TAs.

    Apr 2023 · didn’t like itOn UW FlowRemove this

  • This course improved my presentation skills somewhat. Besides that, I learned next to nothing of use and it was a painful 3 hours per week to get through.

    Dec 2016 · didn’t like itOn UW FlowRemove this

  • Typical SCBUS workshop; the class essentially teaches itself but nothing challenging

    Aug 2016 · didn’t like itOn UW FlowRemove this

Discussed on r/uwaterloo

5 posts and comments in 5 threads mention SCBUS 225, May 2015 to December 2024. Quoted word for word, newest first; each reply sits under the post and the comment that started its branch. Search r/uwaterloo for newer posts.

Fall 2022

Spring 2019

Is anyone in this subreddit in Business and Science? 3 points, 10 comments

“This is the major I am taking but it isn’t available in other universities so I have no idea if people like it or not. …”

u/OfficialPapaJohn: “It is: ok I took it for one year and realized that it isn't anything amazing. You could take a science major of your choosing at any other school and then select business courses to build up a minor …”

u/OfficialPapaJohn: “… into certain topics that don't really amount to a full course curriculum except SCBUS225 OB. And the non-scbus "business" courses are AFM 131 and then a couple ECON courses. …”

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Fall 2017

Any way to disable UWCourseLinker from posting? 16 points, 26 comments

“posting a reply to my comment I find the bot annoying.”

u/Jackhofmann: “… 291 RS 327 RS 353 RS 357 RS 380 RS 398 RS 499 RS 700 RSCH 100 RUSS 101 SCBUS 123 SCBUS 223 SCBUS 225 SCBUS 323 SCBUS 423 SCI 10 SCI 200 SCI 206 SCI 238 SCI 267 SCI 395 SDS 131R SDS 150R SDS 205R SDS 210R SDS 231R SDS 242R SDS 250R SDS 251R SDS 312R SDS 331R SDS 353R SDS 354R SDS …”

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Spring 2015

Information on Biotech/CPA? 3 points, 5 comments

“Come September, I'll be a grade 12 student applying to university. I thought I'd take advantage of the summer to research prospective programs and I stumbled across Waterloo. …”

u/sda42: “… You will have two courses in first year where you'll all be in the same class (SCBUS 225 / SPCOM 111), so there will be an opportunity to bond with your fellow classmates (they will go through everything with you). …”

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Faculty of Science & Biotech/CPA Questions 0 points, 11 comments

“Hi guys. I'm a grade eleven student going on grade 12 in a few months. University applications are upcoming and I'm very interested in the Biotech/CPA program and the faculty of science overall. …”

u/sda42: “… One of the course changes that began in my year is that SCBUS 225 is taken in first year; essentially, the only people taking it in the fall term are the Biotech/CPAs so it's a good opportunity to meet everyone at the start of 1A. …”

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Check it elsewhere for Fall 2026

Calendar versions

Undergraduate Calendar