Download as PDF

ORGANIZATIONAL DYNAMICS
(AS) {DYNM}  

SM 355. (DYNM655) Using the Political Process to Effect Organizational Change. (C) Gale.

At one time or another, each of us has said something like, "I know what to do to make some really effective changes in this organization, but the politics make it almost impossible to get anything done." The sense is that although there are changes that should be made to improve organizational performance, politics (internal, external, or governmental) simply obstructs our ability to make a difference.  Frustrations notwithstanding, politics is anything but an impediment; it is the art and science of coordinating individuals, departments, management, markets - the entire organizational environment - to effect a balance of objectives and methods.  This seminar will discuss the use of politics to promote effective change within organizations.  After reviewing the theory or organizations and the roles that political processes play in communications and decision-making, a series of cases will be presented that illustrate the contexts and conditions for effective political coordination. Both private and public sector examples will be employed.  Seminar participants will be required to present a case study of organizational politics and demonstrate ways in which it can be used as an effective agent of change.

501. Foundations of Organizational Dynamics. (C) Greco. For additional information, please see our website at: http://www.organizationaldynamics@upenn.edu/od.cgi.

This is a foundations course intended for non-MSOD students and MSOD students in their first year of study.  The course serves to introduce the new student to the central themes and requirements of the Program, the five course concentrations and a cross section of the faculty.  Lectures, discussions, simulations, and experiential learning are used to build an informed grounding in the philosophy, theory and practice of Organizational Dynamics.  The course also includes a writing workshop built around the written assignments of the course.  The course requirements are active class participation, a midterm paper and a final paper.

542. Theories & Model That Inform Coaching. (M) Orenstein.

This course will discuss the importance of theory in guiding the practice of coaching.  Students will be introduced to a theory/model that explores a multiple-discipline approach to coaching in an organizational setting.  With this framework as a basis, and a subsequent review of an array of theoretical orientations, students will select, research, apply and present a theoretical model of their own choosing.  Their moedel will provide the framework that informs their coaching and/or use their thought and practice in their roles at work.

SM 600. Managing Diversity in the Workplace. (C) Anderson.

This seminar will focus on the social nature of race, ethnicity, and lifestyle relations in the workplace, assessing implications for the resulting organizational culture and management issues.  The workplace is the intersection of many individual experiences and biases, particularly those surrounding the personal issues of race, ethnicity and lifestyle.  One's capability for managing and being managed are profoundly affected by how clearly one is able to understand one's own biases as well as those of others. A main objective of the seminar will be to increase one's ability to understand and manage diversity in the workplace by investigating: (1) how distinctions manifest themselves in organizations; (2) how the same behavior can be viewed differently, depending on experience and culture; (3) the meaning of dominant and minority groups; (4) the workplace as the same or different from society in general; (5) risks of assuming that differences are being understood, when they are not; (6) the nature of stigma and its implications for the workplace.

SM 601. Gender Issues in Organizational Leadership. (C) Vanderslice. For additional information, please see our website at: http://www.organizationaldynamics@upenn.edu/od.cgi.

This seminar will explore the intersection of gender and organizational behavior as it has evolved and in the current social and economic context in this country.  We will examine the social, cultural and structural dynamics within organizations that differentially affect women and men, as well as the gender-linked resources each brings to organizations.  Topics that will be addressed include the debate over the currect situation of women in the workforce; the social construction of gender; the relationship of gender and power in understanding gender dynamics in the workplace; the intersection of gender and class; gender issues in organizational leadership; policy and practice as reinforcers of gendered dynamics; the interaction of culture and organizational structure; and restructuring organizations to better meet the needs of women and men in today's culture.  The course will 1) address the development of a theoretical framework for understanidng gender issues in the workplace; 2) explore more specific ways in which policies and practices have different effects on employees and managers by virtue of gender and; 3) focus on alternative conceptualizations, structures, policies and practices that could make it possible for both men and women to be successful in the workplace and to avoid gender-based discrimination.

        In this last section, we will specifically discuss various organizational change processes that address gender issues within organizations.

SM 602. Leader-Manager as Coach. (M) Russo. For additional information, please see our website at: http://www.organizationaldynamics@upenn.edu/od.cgi.

New work technologies, increased competition and employees' desire for more involvement in their work are changing the traditional role of the manager. Rather than directing, planning and controlling the work, managers and leaders are facilitating processes and coaching and developing their employees.  Team based organizations are built on coaching as a core requirement of the team leader role.  This course explores the theory and practices of individual coaching as leadership behavior.  The focus is on helping managers develop their skills and improve their performances as coaches.  We will examine the need to provide others with successful performance strategies, timely feedback on strengths and on development needs and growth opportunities in order to challenge others to reach their potential.  We will explore workplace environments that foster the growth and achievement of those we lead.

SM 603. Administrative Decision Making and Problem Solving. (C) Starr.

How do you make important decisions when confronted with organizational, social or personal problems?  Is your primary approach to use a strategic process?  How many strategies do you know and use?  In this course we will review and discuss research and descriptions about how "normal" people solve problems and make administrative, ethical, and social decisions.  We will evaluate situations and problems where quantitative methods can be applied in order to improve both the process and outcome of complex problems.  Using readings and classroom case exercises, we will consider cognitive errors or biases, as well as personality and group dynamics forces that influence making choices.  We will also consider how psychological stress, gender, and leadership apply to decision-making and problem solving in organizations. Most research readings and methods of analysis and evaluation are based on assumptions, theories, modes, and research conducted by psychologists and published in psychology journals.  The underlying assumptions of the psychological approach to the topic will be presented and discussed.

        Participants will learn to: understand and apply normative ("ideal") strategies for decision making/problem solving; understand and use descriptive ("everyday") and prescriptive ("improved") strategies and processes for decision making/problem solving; understand the differences between individual and group decision making/problem solving; understand how conflict, leadership, and gender influence decision making/problem solving; write papers that demonstrate understanding and application of decision making and problem solving strategies.

SM 604. Organizational Risk Management. (L) Combrinck-Graham.

We will examine our involvement in risk management in our organizations and discuss whether our organizations manage risk as they manage opportunity.  The first half of the course will focus on risk management's decisional and managerial aspects.  During the second half of the course, we will apply these concepts to case studies as preparation for your presentation on managing risk in your particular organization.  This course should provide you with a framework for addressing risk in your organization and perhaps in your personal life.  You will also strengthen your understanding of your appetite for risk and that of your organization under different circumstances.

        Risk management is a function rather than a specific position.  It should be practiced by many levels of management, with coordination and guidance from a senior level.  Risk management is a planning and strategic function, not solely an assessment, financial or safety function.  Risk management prepares for an uncertain tomorrow, just as long-range planning deals with the futurity of present decisions.

SM 605. Assessing and Managing Project Risk. (C) Hornbacher. For additional information, please see our website at: http://www.organizationaldynamics@upenn.edu/od.cgi.

This seminar will focus on the six stages of project risk management articulated in the best practices standard developed by the Project Management Institute.  These include: (1) Risk Management Planning; (2) Risk Identification; (3) Qualitative Risk Analysis; (4) Quantitative Risk Analysis; (5) Risk Response Planning and (6) Risk Monitoring and Control.  Although the management processes involved in some stages may appear easy to understand, their implementation always requires appreciation of and commitment to the complexities of risk management by the leadership of the organization.  Stages 2 and 4 concern qualitative assessment; Stages 4 and 6 are more analytic in nature and involve discussion and review of quantitative techniques.  Class participants will be asked to find past or current projects in their own organizations that could have or currently can benefit from early identification of risk.  Students will work in teams to identify the benefits of, and more importantly, the challenges and barriers to, establishing risk management processes in their enterprises.

SM 607. Psychodynamics of Organizations. (M) Hirschhorn. For additional information, please see our website at: http://www.organizationaldynamics@upenn.edu/od.cgi.

As an area of study, the psychodynamics of organizations draws out attention to the tacit, implicit, and unconscious dimensions of organizational life.  It presumes that a person takes up his or her role at work by drawing on both individual history and the organizational context that helps define a role, its boundary, and the resources available to take it up.  In both these aspects, the organizational context, and one's individual biography, people are often unaware of the thoughts and feelings that animate their behavior.

        The course will introduce students to some basic concepts of psychoanalysis, which focus on individual motivation, and systems psychodynamics, which focuses on group dynamics and group psychology.  System psychodynamics also emphasizes how an organizational's primary task, or its "reason for being," influences individual experience.  Readings include case studies as well as expositions of theory.  The instructor will also draw on his own consulting cases.

SM 608. Organizational Dynamics of Working in a Global Marketplace. (M) Tschoegl.

This course examines some of the sources of confusion, conflict, misperception and error that arise when representatives of U.S. organizations interact and work in the global marketplace.The aim is to heighten awareness, help avoid personal or professional pitfalls, and to more effectively manage some of the organizational and business challenges that arise when operating across dissimilar environments.  We will focus on areas including: ethics, culture, language, ethnicity, religion, gender, the political and legal systems, labor, corruption, and corporate organization.  Each class session will begin with a short, interactive introductory lecture, followed by discussion around assigned readings and mini-cases.

SM 610. Knowing Yourself: The Coach as an Instrument of Change. (M) Napier.

Note: This class is predicated on the assumption that prior to offering coaching assistance, a coach should have a deep understanding of his or her own behavior and its impact on a client.  Utilizing validated tools and strategies available for coaches, the students practice sets of coaching skills on each other.  This includes practice in interviewing and observational skills.  In addition, students will have the opportunity to give and analyze 360 degree feedback data as well as use of a variety of other instruments that can be foundational for a useful coaching experience. Premise: Coaching others is very serious business.  Intrepid individuals willing to take on this responsibility should be willing to answer the following questions: 1) Who am I as a leader and helper?  2) What are the assets I bring to the coaching relationship?  3) What are my deficits, overusedstrengths, or underutilized skills and behaviors?  4)What historical influences from my family of origin influence my capacity to build a positive rrelationship with my coaching client?  5) Are there discrepancies in relation to my self-perceptions and those who know me well--family members, peers, colleagues, friends, boss and direct reports?

        Similar to most traditional programs where the focus is on the management of change, the coruse is organized to: 1) A diagnostic phase in which the values, history, assumptions, and behaviors of the client will be assessed.  In this case, the client will be the student/coach.  2) The applied phase in which analysis, interpretation, and formal learning will be the central focus.  The end result will be individuals with a deep and abiding understanding of their own psychodynamics and their personal impact.  Finally, by modeling many of the tools and strategies useful in any effective coaching effort and practicing them on themselves and their student peers, it is hoped that the experiential nature of the course will allow maximum transference to the real work of coaching.

SM 611. Strategic Perspectives on Coaching. (M) Wilkinsky. For additional information, please see our website at: http://www.organizationaldynamics@upenn.edu/od.cgi.

This course will examine coaching in the organizational setting from the perspective of significant stakeholders in the coaching process.  Coaching from the perspective of the client will explore the goals, issues, concerns, and outcome measures that are in the domain of the clients.  Why do they want coaching to take place?  How can they maximize return on their time and energy investments?  Coaching from the perspective of HR within the sponsoring organization considers HR goals and needs, and attaining "success" through coaching.  Also examined are confidentiality, the responsibilities of HR (finding coaching and approving coaches), and how the investment is defined and measured.Coaching from the perspective of the coach addresses metrics and evaluation by the coach.  Determining excellence is no simple task.  The issues problems, barriers to success, and tools of the trade will be addressed.

        Coaching from the perspective of the high impact group outside the organization acknowledges the systems perspective that people are connected to multiple organizations and that behavior, knowledge, and/or competency are interactive and co-producing.

SM 612. Mastering Organizational Politics and Power. (C) Eldred. For additional information, please see our website at: http://www.organizationaldynamics@upenn.edu/od.cgi.

The purpose of this course is to explore, enhance, and expand the participants' competence in organizational politics.  Students will observe political dynamics as they occur in their own organizations and will interview senior managers in other organizations to learn how political realities vary from one organization to another.  Theoretical ideas about a dimension of organizational politics of particular interest to each individual participant will be analyzed in a term paper.  In addition, each participant will keep a personal diary of political dynamics in his or her own workplace.  The course will also explore ways to master the political skills of networking, negotiating, influencing, leading, and following, as well as developing a political strategy.

SM 613. Is Bigger - Inevitable, Better or Worse in Organizations?. (C) Licht. For additional information, please see our website at: http://www.organizationaldynamics@upenn.edu/od.cgi.

Is the modern large corporation alienating, inflexible, unproductive?  Is the small organization or work team engaging, innovative or creative, productive? Has it always been this way in the U.S.?  Is change possible?  In this unique, informal, "turbo" seminar, we will examine the large corporation in terms of history, governance and control, and delivery of (office) work.  We will consider whether "bigness" and bureaucracy are inevitable, and how organizations of the present, and probably the future, are affected by those of the past.

        This seminar has been structured to cover a good deal of ground in a short time.  The seminar will meet on six Saturdays.  The subject matter of the seminar is the large-scale organization.  Questions to be raised include: 1) Is the modern large corporation alienating, inflexible, unproductive?  2) Are bigness and bureaucracy inevitable?  3) Is the small organizaiton or work team engaging, innovative, creative, productive?  4) What does the historical record for the United States reveal?  5) Are organizational alternatives and change possible?

SM 616. Globalization: World Politics, Social Order and Economic Impacts. (C) Teune. For additional information, please see our website at: http://www.organizationaldynamics@upenn.edu/od.cgi.

The purpose of this seminar is to provide analytical frameworks for understanding change in the world seen as a total system.  The challenging question of our time is whether this and the next decades will be dominated by a backlash against globalization, including new forms of global war and local closure to trade and exchange, or if the world, despite setbacks, will continueto develop a new political, social and economic world order radically different from the traditional one of relations among nations.  In either case, turbulence and volatility from the forces and counter-forces of globalization can be expected.

        The contradictions of our era of globalization (beginning around 1975) are that while globalization appears to lead to uniformities everywhere (McDonaldization),nevertheless old and new differences and identities intensify.Also, globalization makes it nearly impossible to explain a particular change, for example, decline in voting in elections in the U.S., in American political terms, when the same phenomenon happens in all established democracies.  Regions separate, Europe and NAFTA, among them, while at the same time globalization proceeds to include all markets everywhere.  Topics that will be covered, after discussions of the main issues of globalization and its consequences, include: economic integration, the future of the nation-state, a New Europe, a world of regions, global democracy, doing business globally, nationalism and religious fundamentalism, the global environment, global security, and human rights in a global society.

SM 617. Economics of Human Behavior and Organizational Life. (M) Handy.

The primary goal of this course is an examination of the various aspects of human behavior in the context of organizational and institutional life from an economic perspective.  We begin with an examination of how micro economists view the world, discussing concepts such as: efficiency; opportunity cost/marginalism; externalities; incentives; free-riding; rent-seeking; and transaction costs.  We then focus on a rational choice analysis of family, the oldest and most fundamental institution in society.  We examine marriage and divorce and the consequences from an economic standpoint for individuals and society.  We then examine religious organizations and religion in terms of choices individuals make given costs and benefits of their actions while "producers" of religion compete for adherents.  Before concluding the course with an economic analysis of democratic government, we will look at several topics such as: human capital and investment in education; law and enforcement; bribes and gifts, economics of information; property rights and externalities; and free-riding.

SM 619. Organizational Project Management. (M) Choukroun. For additional information, please see our website at: http://www.organizationaldynamics@upenn.edu/od.cgi.

The course provides an overview of the concepts, procedures and fundamental processes of project management for working professionals.  Participants are introduced to the principles, tools and techniques of project management within an integrative framework.  The course emphasizes that, for most organizations, projects are the primary means for implementing strategic initiatives.

        Course Objectives: 1) Understand and critically evaluate expectations, procedures and processes of project management as currently practiced in large for-profit enterprises.  2) Understand the content and processes and standards of practice as defined by the Project Management Institute (PMI).  3) Understand how to build and manage effective project teams.  4) Become familiar with the critical components of effective project plans.

SM 620. The Coach: Applying Tools and Skills in the Field. (M) Napier.

Coaching insinuates change, and most meaningful change is, at some level, therapeutic.  This course will explore the dynamics of change as a therapeutic process.  Whenever individuals have the nerve to "help" others, self-understanding must come front and center.  As a master coach once said, "Who in the hell do we think we are helping others unless we are willing to take a very hard look at ourselves-our behavior, our impact, our projections and biases?" Not only must we ask hard questions of ourselves and resolve our own issues that could corrupt our effectiveness, but we also need to model the most productive behaviors possible.  The questions for students of this course include: 1) Are you willing to look?  2) Are you will to be fiercely honest with yourself and with your fellow students?  3) Are you prepared for the responsibility that goes with mucking around in someone else's life?  What makes this particular coaching course unique is that it affords students the opportunity to experience a full range of coaching practices in a relatively short amount of time.  The expectation is that the students will have identified a potential client that will be discussed during the first class (although no firm agreement would have to be reached prior to that time).

        The student/coach will be guided each step of the way through the coaching process which will include a) contracting with the client; b) engaging in a thorough diagnostic exercise for the client including interviews, observations and a complete 360 feedback cycle, c) analyzing the data, d) feeding the results back to the client, e) engaging the client in problem solving and an action plan designed to help increase the client's effectiveness.

SM 622. Building Effective Organizational Structures: Getting Things Done. (C) Barstow.

This seminar attempts to penetrate many of the formal models of organizational planning, decision making and action to ask how things actually get done. Popular concepts such as participative management, teamwork and networking are often not practiced effectively.  Attempts to bring about such political change in organizations often ignore the fluid, informal structures already in place.  This seminar will explore structures and processes for redesigning an organization and empowering its members to work and manage effectively.  This seminar is built around change projects designed and carried out by each participant over the term.  Each participant will present and lead a discussion of their project during the course.

SM 624. Program Leadership. (M) Heaslip. For additional information, please see our website at: http://www.organizationaldynamics@upenn.edu/od.cgi.

The objective of Program Leadership Skills is to provide students with an understanding of current principles and best practices in the maturing field of Program Management.  Students will investigate the relationships between Program Management, Project Management and Portfolio Management as separate butco-dependent disciplines, and examine the importance of each to the successful achievement of organizational goals.  Focusing on Program Management, the course will examine the unique challenges that are faced when managing organizational activities that principally pursue strategic goals, and that must be responsive to outcomes of activities being pursued and changes in strategic direction.  The course will provide a forum for discussing the various types of Programs that organiations pursue, and for understanding how Program Managment best practices can be applied to each type of Program.  The course will explore the need to adapt Program Management principals in a context-specific way to ensure that Programs deliver their expected organizational value.  Moreover, it will examine how-despite qualitative differences between Programs-common approaches can be used to assess Program Management maturity and performance, and to define the skills required of a successful Program Leader.

        At the conclusion of the course, students will be expected to understand current best practices in Program Management, and to determine how to initiate or improve upon Program Management practices in their own organizations.  DYNM 624 will begin with an examination of the nature of Programs, and their unique role in delivering outcomes that support strategic goals.  Drawing on student experience and knowledge, class members will each identify a program to examine and discuss as case studies during the class.  The diversity of experience of the students will thus provide a rich environment for the study of programs of very different types.  The course will then review the published standards and common practices of Program Management, comparing them with the examples presented by the case studies.  Students will examine whether differences between case studies and the standards represent gaps in Program Management practices or acceptable context-specific differences in Program Management needs.

SM 626. Leading the Professional Service Organization. (M) Eldred.

The purpose of this seminar is to understand appropriate leadership behaviors for professional services.  Students will gain first hand exposure to prominent leaders of diverse service organizations, and will research how those leaders both develop and deploy their leadership agenda.

SM 627. Classics of Organizational Behavior. (C) Barstow.

The purpose of this seminar is to critique the thought and practice of several "big names" in organizational behavior, while establishing the continuing relevance of their work to today's organizations.  Federick Taylor (Scientific Management), The Hawthorne Studies (Human Relations), Kurt Lewin (group Dynamics), Eric Trist (Socio-Technical Systems) and others will be read in their primary sources, giving participants the opportunity to form their own opinion of these classic field studies.

        Participants will read primary sources in the field as well as more recent critical scholarship.  They will then present short papers to the class in the model of an academic conference, followed by discussion.  Participants will debate their own views in this conference atmosphere as if both the founders and their critics were present.  In addition to the readings and discussion, participants will view a taped oral-history interview with Eric Trist and a film of Kurt Lewin's famous experiment on leadership styles.  Each participant will present two brief papers to the class and will submit a longer final paper.

SM 628. Organizational Diagnosis: Diagnostic Strategies for Enhancing Organizational Effectiveness. (C) Kaminstein. For additional information, please see our website at: http://www.organizationaldynamics@upenn.edu/od.cgi.

This seminar is designed to help participants learn multiple approaches to diagnosing the complex ways in which issues and/or problems manifest themselves in organizations.  Frequently, when organizations find themselves in trouble, i.e., there are rumblings in the system about such things as lack of leadership, poor communication, diminished productivity, low morale, etc., there is a tendency to frame the problem(s) simplistically and/or locate blame in a few difficult individuals or groups.  However, upon closer examination, problematic issues are often found to be symptomatic and/or symbolic of multiple issues within the organization.  This course will help students understand how problems which appear at one level of the system (for example, at the personal or interpersonal level) often represent problems at other levels of the system (e.g., at the group and/or institutional level) or signify a range of inter-related issues.  It will provide students with the theoretical constructs and application skills necessary for identifying and framing problem areas, collecting data, and organizing feedback to client systems.  Real-time examples will inform our discussions as we consider the relationships between diagnosis, organizational reflection and appropriate action.

SM 629. Organizational Consulting: Proseminar in Organizational Development. (C) Starr. For additional information, please see our website at: http://www.organizationaldynamics@upenn.edu/od.cgi.

This course describes and examines progessional Organization Development (OD) competencies identified by the Academy of Management and professional OD societies.  OD practitioners, theorists, and corporate officers visit class to describe - for example - establishing and managing organizational coaching programs; applying different models in large-scale organization change initiatives; managing change in virtual and global teams; and using change methodologies such as Appreciative Inquiry (a blend of positive psychology and systems thinking) to create idealized development and growth.  MSOD or MPhil students interested in organization consulting and coaching should consider this course as a first step.  Most research, readings and methods of analysis and evaluation are based on assumptions, theories, models and research conducted by psychologists and social scientists from the human relations tradition.

        Students will learn to: 1) Understand and critically evaluate expectations, applications and outcomes of OD interventions and promoted by OD practitioners; 2) Understand how OD competencies are addressed by practitioners/consultants; 3) Understand how to establish an OD intervention.

SM 630. Business Process Excellence - From Vision to Reality. (M) Kirchmer. For additional information, please see our website at: http://www.organizationaldynamics@upenn.edu/od.cgi.

Today's business environment is constantly changing.  Enterprises need to be agile in order to be successful and survive on the long term.  An effective business process management helps to overcome that challenge and achieve the necessary agility and innovation.  In the 90's, organizations started to move from functional to process oriented organizational structures.  A goal of this measure has been to increase customer and market orientation as well as flexibility of enterprises.  In the 00's, more and more organizations extended their focus from intra-enterprise to inter-enterprise business processes.  It has become curcial for organizations to achieve business processes excellence in order to keep and improve their competitive advantages.  The management of business process has become a key element of enterprise management.  This trend has even increased since new process execution approaches, like Serivce Oriented Architectures (SOA), event-driven software or "Web 2.0" have been avialable.

        In this course framework, aproaches, methods and software for achieving and maintaining business process excellence will be discussed using real live examples and case studies.

SM 631. Strategic Planning and the Process of Implementation and Success. (C) Tomazinis.

Entrepreneurship engenders the notions of innovation, organization, planning ahead, and above all, a determination to do something that has not been done before.  Every successful entrepreneurial enterprise is a realization of strategy and planning.  Participants in this seminar will discuss the techniques necessary to lead an entrepreneurial venture in the public and private sectors and within large and small organizations.

SM 634. Process Improvement Tools and Strategies. (C) Stankard. For additional information, please see our website at: http://www.organizationaldynamics@upenn.edu/od.cgi.

Process improvement is a core capability of competitive and sustainable organizations such as Baptist Healthcare, Federal Express, Ritz Carlton, Toyota Motor Co., General Electric and Motorola for example.  Ever rising customer expectations in markets with global competition, compel organizations to "adapt or die." Deming's warning that "There is no need to change; survival is not mandatory" is truer now than ever.  Organziational survival and economic success depends upon effective development of smarter and better ways of working--processes--in an organizational context of leadership, learning and customer focus.  This course is ideal for those who want to learn how to help organizations boost profitability and sustainability through systematic improvement of quality, throughput, timeliness, economic value, employee and customer satisfaction.

        Fifteen or more simple, powerful tools (such as brainstorming, affinity diagramming, process mapping, customer value analysis, the five whys of root cause analysis, process behavior and spider web diagrams, prioritization of the vital few versus the useful many, in-process and end-of-process metrics, etc.) by working through an in-class lean sigma improvement project on a simulated process.  You will also learn to discuss problem solving and innovation in organizations using the point of view and language of process improvement.  Two main strategies of process improvement - the Toyota Production system known as Lean Production, and of statistical approaches to deisgning and improving processes now referred to as six sigma approaches. How process improvement fits into a strategic organizational context by working on a team project to diagnose improvement opportunities and propose a program of action for a case study company.  You will work as a member of a team on a final project for the case study organization (or with prior approval from the instructor) to conduct a live process improvement project in your home organizations.  Class time is allocated for the instructor to coach your teams on each stage of your projects.

SM 635. Organizational Essentials for Leadership. (M) Choukroun.

Through presentations by expert speakers, case dicussions, and participation in team projects, students will review and evaluate critical issues from across the frames of business, including general; human resource; marketing; information and stakeholder management; leadership; corporate culture; communications; organizational behavior; sales, marketing and public relations; finance and financial reporting; ethics and social responsibility; unions and government relations; and business law.  Each of these elements will be studied in light of changing environmental conditions, including the economy; society; consumer behavior; market trends; regulation; politics, unpredictable events such as 9/11; organizational change; history; and internationalism.

SM 636. 21st Century Leadership Development: Integrating Cultural Influences into Coaching Practice. (C) Reyes.

Coaching has been used to support high-level leadership,to develop high potential talent, to overcome or remediate deficiencies or unproductive behaviors, and to support or manage performance during periods of change.  As the use of organizational coaching has grown over the last decade, globalization of the economy has transformed organizational markets, operations, and workforces so that "culture" routinely influences interpersonal group and organizational interfaces.  In this context, leadership requires an ability to recognize and leverage the "cultural diversity" inherent in teamwork, communication, collaboration, conflict and change.  Coaching, as a leadership development practice, must help leaders grow in their ability to recognize and leverage the national, professional, functional and organizational cultures that influence workforce engagement, productivity, and satisfaction and innovation.

        This course is intended for students with an interest in culturally complex leadership and organizational development.  This course had a dual purpose. First, through reading, class discussion and written reflection, the course will enhance student understanding of coaching models, methods, and cases informed by cross-cultural psychology, intercultural communication, anthropology and international business disciplines.  Secondly, through guided practice, students will develop their skills in coaching across cultural differences.  Students will coach one another through a self- assessment, development planning process and initial movement toward their objectives using a global scorecard using Rosinski's global coaching process as one illustrative example of this kind of coaching.

SM 637. Coaching and Facilitating Teams. (C) Wilkinsky.

Highly productive teams plan well and execute against that plan.  These teams have effective leadership which recognizes and fosters the development of the skills of the team's members.  Tasks are accomplished in a cooperative and participative environment.  Accomplishments are recognized and, as appropriate, celebrated.  Failures and disappointments are explored so that the lessons can be used to succeed in the future.  Sadly, not all teams and work groups fit the above description.  Too often goals are not met, participation is uneven, finger-pointing, CYA, and lack of motivation permeate the team.

        In this course, we will explore the roles and functions of the coach and facilitator of organizational teams.  This highly participative course will use both theory and practice to determine how to help teams avoid limiting pitfalls and increase their opportunity to become highly productive in the accomplishment of tasks and the professional and personal development of people.

SM 640. Virtual Forms of Collaboration. (M) Reyes.

In many of today's organizations, the process of improving productivity and performance has become a big business.  Quite apart from the myriad internal studies, task forces, reorganization efforts, re-engineering projects, and the like, there are countless external vendors and consultants who provide productivity and performance products and services to organizations of all types.  Perhaps the best known are Business Process Re-engineering (BPR) and Business Process Engineering (BPE) which have been developed to tackle the needs for broader-scale improvements.  The adoption of Enterprise-wide Resource Planning (ERP) systems based on BPE has been a significant development.  Not only does ERP ordinarly constitute a major investment of resources, it requires the adoption of a reconfigured view of the organization and the processes used in its design, structure, and operations.  In this seminar, the rationale for ERP will be discussed in terms of its effects and impacts on productivity and performance in organizations.  In order to illustrate the factors and considerations used in developing ERP systems, examples will be presented which employ SAP's R/3 system and the R/3 "Business Process Reference Models." In order to facilitate the review, additional examples will be presented.

SM 641. The Art and Science of Organizational Coaching. (C) Wilkinsky. For additional information, please see our website at: http://www.organizationaldynamics@upenn.edu/od.cgi.

Coaching has become a primary tool for consultants, human resources professionals and administrators interested in promoting and sustaining leadership and executive development, behavioral change, and role transition. This course explores the theory and practices associated with organizational coaching.  We examine and practice the steps of the normative coaching process,the issues and boundaries that affect coaching, and pitfalls to avoid.

        Throughout the course, we will contrast what the theory says and what practitioners in the field have actually experienced.  Major foci include the critical nature of gathering and using data, observation tools, internal versus external coaching, informal versus formal programs, and coaching for development versus for corrective action.  Participants will engage in coaching processes in the classroom and in their own organizations.

SM 642. Allocating Resources: Economic, Technological & Human. (L) Gale.

Setting, monitoring, and controlling organizational plans and their implementation has become increasingly complex in modern organizations. Simple measures of bottom-line profitability by divisions, for example, often mask the processes required for intra-and inter-organizational coordination and effectiveness.  Similarly, standard organization charts depict reporting responsibilities and authorities without tracing either the flow of communications or the financial impacts of change.  As a means for illustrating alternative approaches to the management of organizations, selected models, methods and examples of organizational resource allocation and control will be reviewed, discussed and analyzed.  In addition to the seminar discussions, participants in the course will also be expected to identify, develop, and analyze a resource allocation problem associated with an organization.  (Typically, the organization selected is one with which the participant is familiar or is interested in creating.) Selected examples of resource allocation strategies will be discussed during the first seminar. Each participant will be expected to prepare a paper on their problem and to make a brief presentation on the methods of analysis employed and the means for implementing the results.

        The seminar will involve working both on individual projects and discussions of approaches and methods for the conceptualization and analysis of resource allocation problems.  As such, the course will combine elements of a seminar and a workshop.  Following the first session (which will cover introductions of the participants, a presentation of the objectives and design of the course,and a review of selected cases), each seminar will be devoted to a review of methods and discussions of the participants' cases.

SM 643. Overcoming Organizational Barriers to Success. (M) Bayney. For additional information, please see our website at: http://www.organizationaldynamics@upenn.edu/od.cgi.

This course examines the fundamental raison d'etre of Project Portfolio Management and its relationships with other organizational disciplines.  It is not a course designed to teach individuals how to practice Project, Program or Portfolio Management.  Rather, it is a course designed to place Project Portfolio Management front and center of organizational survival and to educate practitioners on how to create strategies for its long-term survival and institutionalization.  In today's cost cutting and outsourcing environment, organizations are struggling to continue to grow and create value from declining resource constraints, whether human or budgetary in origin. This places a greater level of importance and burden on Project Portfolio Management but, in so doing, serves to threaten the traditional domains of moreestablished functions that have carefully protected their influential territory for countless decades.

SM 648. Ethics and Leadership. (C) Fielder.

While Hitler and Gandhi were both successful leaders, Gandhi was a good leader,working for ethical goals and using ethical means.  As we know from recent corporate scandals, leaders in contemporary organizations often encounter serious conflicts between their ethical responsibilities and the demands and culture of their organization.  How these conflicts are resolved defines who we are, what we stand for, and what we won't stand for, so it is important to deal with them effectively.

        This course will examine significant questions of organization ethics and leadership.  To clarify these questions and to seek appropriate solutions, we will use readings and case studies.  The readings will analyze the major issues in ethical leadership, with particular attention paid to the organizational dynamics that shape the opportunities and constraints of the decision makers.  They are drawn from sociology, history, health care, and contemporary accounts of ethical problems in organizations.  The case studies, which apply to a wide range of organizations, issues and circumstances, will emphasize class discussion so that individual expertise and experience can deepen participants' understanding.

SM 651. Group and Team Dynamics. (M) Kamenstein/Zane.

Although groups and teams are often lauded as the mechanisms that provide the competitive edge for organizations in today's challenging economic environment, there is often little attention paid to the deeper social and psychological currents influencing group and team dynamics.  Organiztional leaders and facilitators frequently lack an in-depth understanding of how work groups, multifunctional teams, and cross-national executive groups develop, operate, accomplish their goals-or not-and end.  Team members often struggle to make meaning of the myriad spoken, as well as unexpressed, factors influencing the process and outcomes of the groups of which they are a part. This course, by emphasizing both theory and practice, provides students with a thorough grounding in the ways groups and teams develop and learn.  The class will also examine approaches to building group and team competencies related to effective communication, conflict-resolution, and solving complex strategic problems as well as ways to manage the range of intentional and more hidden dynamics that both support and challenge high performance.

        The course is designed to include seven 3-hour classroom meetings across the semester and two Saturday sessions that will afford students the opportunity to explore various theoretical frameworks.  In addition to drawing on the extensive literature and research in group dynamics and team building, the class will rely on experiential methods to help students develop keener understanding and insight into the ways in which their own leadership and followership dynamics, as well as the dynamics of the group-as-a-whole, influence their team's ability to accomplish its tasks.

SM 652. Impact of Chess, Literature and Film on Organizational Dynamics. (M) Zubarev.

In this course we present pragmatic reasons that support greater understanding and use of literature and art in organizational decision making and problem solving.  We examine how styles and methods of decision making,as represented in the game of chess and as presented in selected works of literature and cinema,can be applied to help solve complicated organizational problems and to improve management interactions.  Our analysis will be informed by the contemporary theoretical tools elaborated by the late Dr.  Aron Katsenelinboigen, Professor or Operations and Information Management in the Wharton School.

SM 653. Coaching Others to Manage Conflict. (C) Napier. For additional information, please see our website at: http://www.organizationaldynamics@upenn.edu/od.cgi.

Not a day goes by when you or I or a person we are coaching is not faced with some tantalizing, challenging conflict.  It may be with someone we love, a conflict in a team, a struggle between two direct reports, a difference with our boss or the challenge of a difficult, perhaps aggresive person in a meeting we facilitate.  The problem is not that there is a conflict.  The problem is that most of us have a very thin, often inadequate repertoire of responses to the conflicts that engage us on a daily basis.  The result is that all too often we are predictable in our responses.  Thus, if we take these same limited skills and attempt to provide them to a client in our role as a coach, the consequences will more than likely be similar.

        This course is about expanding your repertoire of responses to a wide array of conflict situations.  In the process, you will increase your understanding of the theoretical constructs that underlie successful conflict management.  Not only will your strategies for managing a variety of conflicts expand, but you will be better able to design unique responses that relate to the particular situation with which your client is faced.  How you translate these ideas to your clients and, in the process, provide them the confidence to use them, will be a central theme throughout the course.  There is an attempt to provide a balance between intellectual theory, skills, and applied strategies along with the time to practice them.

SM 655. (DYNM355) Using the Political Process to Effect Organizational Change. (C) Gale. For additional information, please see our website at: http://www.organizationaldynamics@upenn.edu/od.cgi.

At one time or another, each of us has said something like, "I know what to do to make some really effective changes in this organization, but the politics make it almost impossible to get anything done." The sense is that although there are changes that should be made to improve organizational performance, politics (internal, external, or governmental) simply obstructs our ability to make a difference.  Frustrations notwithstanding, politics is anything but an impediment; it is the art and science of coordinating individuals, departments, management, markets - the entire organizational environment - to effect a balance of objectives and methods.  Congressman Brady and Dr.  Gale will explore and assess the foundations of organizational politics--change, exit, voice, loyalty, and valuation of relationships--and discuss the use of politics to promote effective change.

        After reviewing organizational theory and the roles that political processes play in communications and decision-making, current cases will be presented that illustrate the contexts and conditions for effective political coordination.  This course will focus on the current crises in the U.S. and global economies and the strategies and activities of the new Obama Administration.  U.S.  Congressman Robert Brady, who is deeply involved in the legislative process and in a unique position to discuss the implications of national policies, will share his views and experience.

SM 660. Mistakes and Errors, Accidents and Disasters. (C) Bosk.

The purpose of DYNM 660 is to provide a basic understanding of some rather ubiquitous social phenomena: mistakes, errors, accidents, and disasters.  We will look at these misfirings across a number of institutional domains: aviation, nuclear power plants, and medicine.  Our goal is to understand how organizations "think" about these phenomena, how they develop strategies of prevention, how these strategies of prevention create new vulnerabilities to different sorts of mishaps, how organizations respond when things do go awry, and how they plan for disasters.

        At the same time we will be concerned with certain tensions in the sociological view of accidents, errors, mistakes and disasters at the organizational level and at the level of the individual.  Errors, accidents, mistakes and disasters are embedded in organizational complexities; as such, they are no one's fault.  At the same time, as we seek explanations for these adverse events, we seek out whom to blame and whom to punish.  We will explore throughout the semester the tension between a view that sees adverse events as the result of flawed organizational processes versus a view that sees these events as a result of flawed individuals.

SM 661. Organizational Culture Change: Theory and Practice. (C) Vanderslice.

The importance of organizational culture in defining organizations, and, often, in creating a competitive edge, has been regaining attention during the past few years.  One of the central questions in the organizational culture debate is whether a culture, particularly of a large organization, really can be changed significantly.  This course will begin by engaging the debate about how to define organizational culture and what key factors determine culture. We will explore different models of categorizing cultures and discuss the extent to which culture is really related to performance and what factors may modify the culture/performance relationship.  We will also examine different methods of diagnosing cultures.  During this section of the course we will describe, compare and contrast the cultures of different organizations-both those of the class participants and those of other organizations.  We will begin the second section of the course by examining both the theoretical and applied literature on organizational culture change.

        After developing a generic framework for the culture change process, we will read cases describing culture change efforts and hear from guest speakers who will discuss specific culture change efforts, successful and not.  This section of the course will introduce students to specific organizational intervention strategies that can be used to facilitate culture change.  In particular, we will discuss traditional top-down change strategies, Real Time Strategic Change, Appreciative Inquiry, and a customized approach to culture change in mergers and acquisitions.  During the last section of the course, the class will discuss individual, personal change management as a major factor in successful organizational change; other factors that are essential in most successful culture change efforts; barriers that can be expected; predictable but unintended side-effects of culture change efforts; and strategies for overcoming barriers and managing side effects.  Finally, students in this class will apply what they have learned about organizational culture change to their own organizations.

SM 662. Effective Leadership and Effective Entrepreneurship. (C) Keech. For additional information, please see our website at: http://www.organizationaldynamics@upenn.edu/od.cgi.

This course is designed to provide an understanding of the importance of entrepreneurship and the role of leadership in today's economy.  The course will discuss the nature of entrepreneurs, as well as the management, development of growth strategies and financing of entrepreneurial ventures.The course will stress entrepreneurship in early-stage ventures, while addressing the challenges of creating entrepreneurship in larger, established companies. The course will emphasize strategy development, strategy implementation and crisis management as part of the entrepreneurial process.

        The course will examine a number of leadership topics.  The course will address the role of the chief executive in leading entrepreneurship in large organizations and the role of the board of directors in providing corporate governance.

SM 664. Organizational Culture and Learning. (C) Barstow.

What is organizational culture?  What is organizational learning?  How do organizations learn effectively and change their culture?  A learning organization is skilled at creating, acquiring, and transferring knowledge, and at modifying its behavior to reflect new knowledge (Garvin, 1993). According to Ray Stata, Chairman of Analog Devices, "The rate at which individuals and organizations learn may become the only sustainable competitive advantage." However we define and prioritize organizational learning, we must still struggle with how to do it.  This is a tougher question.  The thesis of this seminar is that an enriched understanding of culture can enhance organizational learning.  Participants will explore the concept of culture, study the work of Chris Argyris, and discover practices and behaviors that promote organizational learning and culture change.  The objective of this seminar is to help participants get beyond highly abstract philosophy and develop a deeper understanding and useful skills based on these concepts.

SM 667. Complexity, Sustainability and Systems Thinking. (C) Barstow.

This course focuses on an understanding of complexity, sustainability, and systems thinking and explores how these concepts and principles apply to organizations.  We will use these concepts and principles to assess cases and current affairs from the micro-level of small groups, through macro-level organizations and associations, to global issues and events affecting the whole planet.

SM 668. Organizational Ethics and Integrity. (C) Fielder. For additional information, please see our website at: http://www.organizationaldynamics@upenn.edu/od.cgi.

Recent scandals in business organizations have focused on individuals who made unethical and unlawful decisions.  Equally, if not more important, is the role of ethically dysfunctional organizations which encourage unethical behavior. Integrity, not just in the narrow sense of being honest, but in the broader sense of adhering to ethical principles and seeking socially responsible goals, applies to organizations as well as individuals.  Creating and sustaining organizational integrity is essential for both organizations and the people who work there to flourish and reach their full potential. Research has confirmed that people do their best work in an atmosphere of trust, responsibility and worthy organizational goals.

        In this course we will examine cases and causes of failures of organizational integrity; study examples of how organizations create and sustain integrity; and apply these approcahes to a range of actual case studies taken from health care, commerce, and non-profit organizations.  The course will emphasize class discussion so that contributions from the individual expertise and experience of the participants can deepen our understanding of these complex ethical and organizational issues.

SM 669. Leadership in Organizations: Private and Public, Personal and Professional. (C) Larkin.

The most valuable resource of any organization is the people who work there; the human capital, if you will.  This seminar will explore the issues of the leadership of this human capital to meet the goals of the organization and the personal and professional goals of the people in the organization.  We will read about and discuss issues such as: Crisis Periods of Leadership, Enhancing One's Leadership Capability, Conflicts Between the Organization's Leadership and One's Personal Leadership, and Strategies for Success in Leadership Positions.  Additional themes of power, authority and control will be examined in terms of the organization and the individual.

        The seminar requires a considerable degree of participation from the students. Our explorations of leadership both begin and end with each of us individually.  Therefore, the seminar will reflect both our common readings and our mutually uncommon (individual) lives as we all negotiate this interesting and challenging personal and professional journey.

SM 671. Ownership Matters. (M) Lamas.

Who is going to own what we all have a part in creating?  The history of American business is an evolving answer to the question of ownership.  Of all the issues relevant to organizational dynamics, ownership is arguably the most important and least understood.  Matters of ownership have also been and remain of intimate concern to ordinary Americans-the slave yearning to breathe free, the young couple with a dream of home ownership, the entrepreneur who wants to be his or her own boss, the consultant who wants to form a partnership with best friends, and the indebted, mid-level manager reviewing last year's 401(k) statement.

        In this course, you will have an opportunity to examine ethical, religious, legal, technological and economic bases for different ownership systems from early human history through the 20th century; develop a theoretical framework for understanding ownership issues in the contemporary workplace; review social science concerning ownership and the related organizational issues of motivation, performance, productivity, profitability, culture, diversity and equity; analyze a variety of cases to measure ownership's effects across many industries and business situations; and utiltize a diagnostic tool for assessing the ways in which your own organization's culture and business outcomes are impacted by the firm's ownership system.

SM 672. A Systems Approach to Crisis Preparation and Organizational Resilience. (M) Freeman.

The principal purpose of this course is to prepare students so that they and the groups and organizations they lead can successfully weather organizational crises and adversities.  In today's world the question is not whether they will experience crisis; it is only a matter of what type of crisis will occur, what form it will take, and how and when it will happen.  We will adopt a systems lens, organizing our understanding of crises and adversity at the most general level of analysis and looking at problems and solutions comprehensively.  The following are the course objectives: understanding crisis management and resilience; understanding models of resilience; how to audit crisis management strengths and vulnerabilities; what to do before a crisis, when a crisis hits, and after a crisis; how to build resilience into a system; how to innoculate oneself and one's organization to protect against depression and demise; and how to identify what is most important and how to safeguard it.

        The course includes travel to New York and the World Trade Center site, and lectures at Columbia University to understand what can happen during and after a crisis.

SM 676. Human Rights and Global Order. (C) Teune.

Human rights have assumed dominance as the ideology of globalization with aspirations to embrace principles and beliefs that can be shared by all peoples everywhere.  Although challenged by a variety of traditions and religions, human rights remains a pillar of global order along with institutions of global governance.  Since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights over 50 years ago and especially since the Helsinki Accords nearly 25 years ago, human rights continue to spread throughout the world, superseding national civil rights and extending to everyday conduct of respect of others and the rights to a life of dignity, safe working conditions, and a good environment.  This seminar will discuss the origins and contested justifications of global human rights.  It will look at group rights for women, minorities, and migrants; economic, social and political rights; and the new citizenships not only of individuals but also of business organizations (the Global Compact).  The evolution of human rights law, the emergence of global courts of human rights, and the imperatives of humanitarian interventions to enforce human rights will receive special attention.

SM 677. Human Capital and Human Nature: Sources of Creativity and Innovation. (M) Bauer. Prerequisite(s): DYNM 666 The Art and Science of Negotiation.

Goal: To mine the resources within yourself, cultivate and engage others, and build with them.  Every one of us is potentially wired for creativity, however, each of us is unique.  How can we understand the research and use it to understand ourselves, our colleagues, and our world?  How do we know what is real?

SM 681. Processes of Interpersonal Communication. (C) Ramsden.

In this course we will explore social and cultural context within which communication takes place and the variables that have an impact on decoding communication data and encoding a message.  We will also examine individual characteristics and traits that contribute to credibility and power, persuasion, decision-making, conflict, and building relationships.  A significant amount of our time will be spent examining our own verbal and non-verbal behavior in an attempt to be most intentional about the messages we send and most effective in our delivery under different circumstances.  Our friends, neighbors and co-workers frequently have national and ethnic backgrounds that are different from our own.  In spite of the fact that a family has lived in the United States for several generations, cultural differences may persist in subtle or not-so-subtle ways.  We will study some of these cultural traditions, and explore our personal experience and biases in order to be more effective in communication involving cross-cultural relationships.  In our study of interpersonal communication we will use here-and-now experience within the group as well as role-playing, video taping and extensive reading with discussion.

SM 683. Organizational Experience. (C) Larkin. For additional information, please see our website at: http://www.organizationaldynamics@upenn.edu/od.cgi.

In a time when corporate downsizing and restructuring are causing dislocation and change in middle management positions, new career opportunities and effective contribution to new organizations requires more than just technical knowledge to develop new tasks, skills and markets.  By achieving greater insight into the historical forces that are causing change and into personal and professional initiatives and responses, participants can create opportunities for their own meaningful transformations.  In this seminar, readings in a variety of literatures and selected films are used to explore a wide range of work and life experiences, looking at careers across centuries and social class.  Participants will have the opportunity to consider (and indeed reconsider) their own work preferences and career choices as reflections of their early family, school and work experience.  They will do this by researching and developing an autobiography that explores family history, educational history, and organizational work experience as a practicing professional.

        The nature of the autobiographical work in this course is by definition personal.  Participants should be willing to explore those themes that reside within their life experience and contribute to analytical and open discussion.

SM 692. Innovation in Organizations. (M) Freeman. For additional information, please see our website at: http://www.organizationaldynamics@upenn.edu/od.cgi.

In this course we will try to understand innovation through different levels of analysis including individual, team, network, organizational, and industrial.The primary goal of the course is to expose students to a variety of perspectives on innovation, while building on past work experiences and preparing for work experiences in the future.  At each level of analysis, we will try to understand conditions under which innovation processes succeed and fail.  The weekly readings consist of a mixture of book chapters, journal articles, and cases.  An outline forum is planned for further discussion of the required readings outside of class, and as the basis for class discussion. Classes will employ reflection exercises and entail critical thinking about the topic for the week, case analyses completed in small groups, and other activities and lectures introducing material found both within and outside of the readings.

        An overnight trip to Harvard University or MIT is being arranged to expose students to innovative practices and leading-edge thought at other research institutions.

SM 693. The Art and Science of Organizational Strategy and Planning. (C) Choukroun.

There is no "best way" to create strategy nor is there one "best way" to plan and implement.  Rather, quite different approaches will work in different contexts.  In this seminar we will explore several approaches to understanding and formulating organizational strategy, emphasizing the complexity of the strategy formation, development process and its risk-taking implications.  We will also examine several planning models together with the internal and external contents in which each may be most effective.  The implications of thevarious approaches to strategy and planning models on organizational forms and structures will be discussed.

SM 694. Statistical Tools for Improving Organizational Effectiveness. (M) Allison.

Most contemporary organizations produce huge amounts of data.  But they typically fall dowin in their ability to harness and exploit data in ways that lead to effective decision making.  This course will focus on applications of linear regression analysis and logistic regression analysis.  These methods are designed to reveal trends, explain known outcomes and identify factors that can secure a desired effect.  The course will be taught using a minimum of mathematics, and no previous statistical training will be assumed.  A major component of the course will be a series of case studies that illustrate all aspects of data analysis.  Participants will also learn how to use the JMP statistical package to do their own analyses.

SM 705. Capstone Course. (C) Starr.

This course requires the student to study a topic of their own choice, discuss their progress with the class in regular meetings and to deliver a final paper that meets the following criteria: (1) Makes an argument, describes or summarizes a position that is unique, original, or which directly applies to the student; (2) Uses primary sources or applies to a primary organization as much as possible; (3) Conforms to the style and format of good academic writing and the MSOD Capstone Presentation Guidelines; (4) Allows a student to demonstrate competencies gained from the courses completed in the Organizational Dynamics program.

        The Capstone Course professor will be available to act as a student's "primary" advisor and will read and grade the final document.  If a student wishes to have a different "primary" advisor (and the designated person agrees), this is permitted.  If a different "primary" advisor is selected, the student's paper will be read and graded by both the "primary" and the course advisor.

SM 720. Foundations of Executive Master of Coaching and Consulting. Napier. Corequisite(s): DYNM 721, DYNM 722, DYNM 723.

This introductory course builds an open, trusting and collaborative culture of shared learning that helps students and faculty to enter into a cohesive educational community.  We address the fundamentals of team and group dynamics including power and authority, task and process, strategic thinking and planning, and motivation and productivity.

721. Field Study and Reflected Assessment. Orenstein. Corequisite(s): DYNM 720, DYNM 722, DYNM 723.

This course discusses relevant research-based theories and models and the methodologies to apply knowledge to analysis and practice.  Students will examine then evaluate models that are most appropriate to their own framework and system of thinking.

SM 722. Making Meaning from Experience and Establishing Frameworks. Orenstein. Corequisite(s): DYNM 720, DYNM 721, DYNM 723.

This course discusses relevant research-based theories and models and the methodologies to apply knowledge to analysis and practice.  Students will examine then evaluate models that are most appropriate to their own framework and system of thinking.

SM 723. Coaching Process. Orenstein. Corequisite(s): DYNM 720, DYNM 721, DYNM 722.

This course requires each student to coach and to be coached in real time, and to share experiences in a critical format among the community of students and faculty.

725. PROBLEM-SOLVING/CONFLICT. Corequisite(s): DYNM724.

Participants explore sources of problems and conflicts, identify the range of choices for resolution, and spend time in the field identifying and resolving conflicts at the personal and team levels.

SM 753. China in Transition: The Context and Consequences of Economic Reform and Opening to the Outside World. (M) deLisle. Corequisite(s): DYNM 754.

The course will focus on the reforms and international openness that have transformed China during the last quarter century, and their political, social and legal contexts and consequences.  Several specific topics will receive detailed attention, including reforms to China's economy (including the creation of a market economy, and changes in enterprise ownership and management and financial institutions), the role of foreign trade and investment and other channels of external influence, rising affluence and inequality, political reform and liveralization, and the development of the legal system.  Students will experience contemporary urban China firsthand and see important cultural and historical sites and artifacts, providing a basis for assessing the influence of Chinese traditions and legacies in the People's Republic today.  In China, we will meet with foreign and Chinese business people, government officials, academics and others.

SM 754. China in Transition: The Context and Consequences of Economic Reform and Opening to the Outside World. (M) deLisle. Corequisite(s): DYNM 753.

The course will focus on the reforms and international openness that have transformed China during the last quarter century, and their political, social and legal contexts and consequences.  Several specific topics will receive detailed attention, including reforms to China's economy (including the creation of a market economy, and changes in enterprise ownership and management and financial institutions), the role of foreign trade and investments and other channels of external influence, rising affluence and inequality, political reform and liberalization, and the development of the legal system.  Students will experience contemporary urban China firsthand and see important cultural and historical sites and artifacts, providing a basis for assessing the influence of Chinese traditions and legacies in the People's Republic today.  In China, we will meet with foreign and Chinese business people, government officials, academics, and others.

SM 758. Sweden: Strategies for Thriving in the 21st Century. (L) Barstow.

Neutral during WWII, and claiming a "Middle Way" between east and west in the post-war twentieth century, Sweden - its people, institutions, and culture - has left its mark on our global society.  In today's world, the influence of Swedish ideas and innovations can be seen in government structures, health and social policies, business organizations, working life, education, science, art, literature, and, of course, the design and style of many products and services which enjoy high demand.  These are impressive impacts from a nation-state of only eight million people.  What lessons are there for Americans and our institutions as we enter the twenty-first century where our leadership position, ability to determine the rules and control the agenda of world economic and political affairs is possibly diminished?

        This course will include meetings with academics and leaders from industry, government, health care, science, media, arts and culture.  Students will meet with and learn from these representatives in order to explore Swedish organizational dynamics, both in terms of its economic prosperity and the problems Swedish society faces today.

759. Sweden: Sustainable Development & The Natural Step. Barstow.

SM 766. Perspectives on Change in the Czech Republic. (L) Steiner.

On May 1, 2004, the Czech Republic, together with nine other states (altogether about 70 million people), officially joined the European Union as full-fledged members.  This new EU became the world's largest free trade zone, measured by the number of consumers, with a GDP comparable to our own.  The challenge this poses for the US is twofold.  One the one hand, the stronger new Europe will create a formidable competitor vying for the same customers, energy resources and political power.  On the other hand,its huge market with considerable dynamic potential provides farsighted American entrepreneurs with an opportunity to partake--through investments, joint ventures, or trade--in the ebullient economic growth that the enlarged EU promises.

        Because of its economic scope and the perceived encroachment on the sovereignty of so many nations, the enlargement was intially greeted with some skepticism by both the "old" and the "new" Europe.  But a year later, it is viewed by most as a success story.  According to the Economist, "the new central European members learned to stop worrying and love the European Union" (January 18, 2005) while the Westerners realized that their own misgivings (the capital outflow combined with the labor inflow) were largely imaginary. The process of bringing all European nations under one roof, however, is far from finished and there are many challenges lurking ahead.  The lectures and discussions in Prague will highlight some of them.

786. RUSSIA:SOUL/IDENTITY.

SM 788. The New Russia: Foe, Competitor or Ally. Steiner. Churchill's famous adagio about Russia being "a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma" seems as valid today as it was in 1939 when it was coined. From George W.  Bush's looking into Vladimir Putin's eyes and getting a sense of his soul to Sarah Palin's seeing the same man as rearing his head and threatening the secuirty of Alaska, US politicans seems to have a great deal of difficulties in calibrating their attitude toward the country which has ceased to be "the evil empire" already some fifteen years ago.  Is the new Russia, seeking to extend its sphere of influence over the now independent former Soviet states, a military challenge to NATO?  Is it an economic competitor in the global game in which the control of vital energy resources isat stake?  Or is it an indispensable ally in "the war on terrorism" without whose support the world cannot become safe?.

A week-long seminar which will take place in Moscow in the first half of June, 2009, will attempt to answer these questions by inviting Russian academic experts, business leaders, politicians and journalists for an in-depth discussion of the following general topics: 1) Russia today (the post-Communist transformation; the current political climate; politics and bsuiness; the control of media).  2) Russia and the world (relations with the great powers: USA, the EU and China; relations with its immediate neighbors: Ukraine, Georgia, and the Baltic states).  3) Russia's energy sector (a role in the global energy market; security vs transparency; ecology and alternative fuels).  4) Russia's financial sector (stock market; stability of the ruble; oversight of the banking industry; foreign capital).  5) Russia tomorrow (educational system; demographic trends; airspace industry; mineral wealth of Siberia and the Arctic).

789. Sweden: Sustainable Development & The Natural Step. Barstow.

The focus of this seminar in Stockholm, Sweden is on The Natural Step framework for sustainable development.  We will meet and work with memebrs of the Natural Step Framework and explore how best to engage our own organizations and communities in adopting sustainable development policies and practices.  The Natural Step (TNS) is a framework grounded in natural science that serves as a guide for businesses, communities, educators, government entities, and individuals on the path toward sustainable development.  The Natural Step framework encourages dialogue, consensus building, and systems thinking (key processes of organizational learning and creates the conditions for profound change to occur.  It does not prescribe or condemn other approaches but rather introduces and expands on new possibilities.  From a bsuiness perspective, The Natural Step framework enables corporations to intelligently, and profitably, integrate environmental considerations into strategic decisions and daily operations.