Management > Human Resources > People and Organizations, Fall 2005

People and Organizations, Fall 2005 posted by duggu on 11/25/2007

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Abstract/Syllabus

Courseware/Lectures

Test/Tutorials

Highlights of this Course

This course features a sample of lecture notes and two term projects in the assignments section.

Course Description

This course examines the historical evolution and current human and organizational contexts in which scientists, engineers and other professionals work. It outlines today's major challenges facing the management profession and uses interactive exercises, simulations and problems to develop critical skills in negotiations, teamwork and leadership. It also introduces concepts and tools to analyze work and leadership experiences in optional undergraduate fieldwork projects.

Syllabus

Objectives

To provide an understanding of the human and organizational contexts in which you will be working and the skills you will need to be productive and successful in the initial stages of your career.
To explore how to put the scientific, technical and organizational knowledge learned at MIT to work in addressing the major challenges facing management and organizations today.

We use interactive exercises, simulations, cases and student projects to examine these issues and to develop critical skills in teamwork, negotiations, communications and leadership. The concepts and tools needed to complete the optional fieldwork project for the Minor in Management are introduced.

Required Books

Ancona, D., T. Kochan, M. Scully, J. Van Maanen, and E. Westney. Managing for the Future. 3rd ed. Mason, OH: Thomson/Southwestern, 2005. ISBN: 0324055757.

Kochan, Thomas, and Richard Schmalensee, eds. Management: Inventing and Delivering Its Future. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2003. ISBN: 0262112825.

Grading

Grading criteria.
ACTIVITIES	PERCENTAGEs
Individual Career Paper	20%
Team Project Paper	35%
Management Problem/Challenge Paper	35%
Peer Assessment of Team and Class Contributions	10%

Calendar

Course calender.
SES #	TOPICS	KEY DATES
1	Introduction and Overview What challenges can I expect in my first job?
2	Introduction to Teams and Teamwork How do we build a high performance team?
3	Contemporary Management Challenges What are the big challenges facing management and organizations today, and what skills do I need to face them?
4	Work and Careers - Past, Present and Future What do I want/expect from my work and career? How is this similar or different from what my parents and grandparents wanted and expected?
5	Organizational Analysis - Strategic Design Lens How do I analyze and make sense of the organizational structure in which I am working?
6	Organizational Analysis - Political Lens Who will share my interests and who won't? Who has power, and how will it affect what I do?	First paper on work and careers due.
7	Organizational Analysis - The Cultural Lens What traditions matter in an organization, and how do they affect what goes on?
8	Organizational Analysis - The Lincoln Electric Case Why has Lincoln Electric's incentive compensation system worked for decades while most others' have failed?	Group project topics due.
9	Shareholders or Stakeholders - A Debate What purpose(s) should corporations serve?	Individual project topics due.
10	The Nike Case Should Nike and other global corporations be held responsible for the practices of their suppliers? If yes, how?	By this class at the latest, you should have completed the online team assessment survey that we will be discussing on Ses #11. We will mention some more details about this in class on the Ses #9.
11	Teams Revisited - Feedback and Workshop Session So, are we a high performance team yet?	This class will be a workshop. Prior to class you will each complete a short Team Assessment Form. In class your team will review your team's data, assess your strengths and weaknesses, and develop a plan for continuous improvement.
12	Introduction to Negotiations How do I negotiate when it looks like I have no power?
13	Multi-party Negotiations How do I balance the interests of several stakeholders, especially when some of them aren't at the bargaining table?
14	Recruitment/Job Offer Negotiations What should ask for? What should I offer?
15	Leadership and Change - Introduction What is leadership? Are we born leaders or can we learn to become good leaders? How can we develop leadership skills? We will have a guest speaker, Marshall Ganz from the Kennedy School.
16	The Big Dig, Part 1	Draft memos for individual projects due.
17	The Big Dig, Part 2
18	Social Influence, Communications and Selling Ideas How do I sell a great idea to higher authorities?	Instructors will return individual project draft memos, with comments.
19	Organizational Change If it worked once, why not again?
20	Organizational Change (cont.)
21	Managing the Innovation Process How do ideas move from the laboratory through the organization to the marketplace? We will have a guest speaker, Tom Barocci, from TAB Associates.
22	Team Presentations
23	Alumni Panel	Papers for team projects due.
24	Technology and Its Social Context What social and cultural impacts will your technical design decisions have, on the workplace and on the wider world? We will have a guest speaker, David Hartzband from the MIT Engineering Systems Division.
25	Inventing the Future
26	Inventing the Future (cont.)	Papers for individual projects due.

Further Reading:

There are two required books for the course, which are noted in shorthand in the table below:

[M] Ancona, D., T. Kochan, M. Scully, J. Van Maanen, and E. Westney. Managing for the Future. 3rd ed. Mason, OH: Thomson/Southwestern, 2005. ISBN: 0324055757.

[K&S] Kochan, Thomas, and Richard Schmalensee, eds. Management: Inventing and Delivering Its Future. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2003. ISBN: 0262112825.

Course readings.
SES #	TOPICS	READINGS
1	Introduction and Overview
2	Introduction to Teams and Teamwork	[M] "A Team Primer." Module 3, pp. M3-10 to M3-16. [M] "Team Process Observation Guide." Module 5, pp. M5-8 to M5-16.
3	Contemporary Management Challenges	[K&S] D'Arbeloff, Alex. "Preface." pp. xi-xii. [K&S] Annan, Kofi. "Corporate Citizenship in a Global Society." pp. 17-24. [K&S] Fiorina, Carly. "Restoring Trust: Corporate Responsibility and the CEO." pp. 25-36.
4	Work and Careers - Past, Present and Future	[M] "Workforce Management: Employment Relationships in Changing Organizations." Module 7, pp. M7-12 to M7-28.
5	Organizational Analysis - Strategic Design Lens	[M] "Three Lenses on Organizational Analysis and Action." Module 2, pp. M2-13 to M2-32. Look over the organizational charts from the Office of the Dean of Student Life and the Dean of Undergraduate Education.
6	Organizational Analysis - Political Lens	[M] "The Political Lens." Module 2, pp. M2-33 to M2-55. Dalton, Melville. "Men who Manage." In The Sociology of Economic Life. Edited by Mark Granovetter and Richard Swedberg. Boulder, CO: Westview, 1992, pp. 315-320 and 334-344. ISBN: 0813397642.
7	Organizational Analysis - The Cultural Lens	[M] "The Cultural Lens." Module 2, pp. M2-57 to M2-82. Bring an MIT cultural artifact to class, one per team (we will explain this in the next class).
8	Organizational Analysis - The Lincoln Electric Case	Berg, Norman, and Norman Fast. "Lincoln Electric Co." Harvard Business School Case. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Publishing. Case: 9-500-071, August 1, 1975.
9	Shareholders or Stakeholders - A Debate	Friedman, Milton. "The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase Profits." The New York Times Magazine, September 13, 1970. Evan, William, and R. Edward Freeman. "A Stakeholder Theory of the Modern Corporation: Kantian Capitalism." In Ethical Theory and Business. 6th ed. Edited by Beauchamp and Bowie. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 2001. ISBN: 0133985202. Stout, Lynn. "Bad and Not-So-Bad Arguments for Shareholder Primacy." Southern California Law Review 75 (2002).
10	The Nike Case	[K&S] Locke, Richard. "The Promise and Peril of Globalization: The Nike Case." pp. 39-70.
11	Teams Revisited - Feedback and Workshop Session
12	Introduction to Negotiations	[M] "Negotiations and Conflict Resolution." Module 12, pp. M12-4 to M12-21. "Negotiation Simulation Ground Rules." (class handout) "An Alarming Night." (class handout)
13	Multi-party Negotiations	"Laboratory Sciences, Inc." (class handout)
14	Recruitment/Job Offer Negotiations	"The New Recruit." (class handout)
15	Leadership and Change - Introduction	[M] "Leadership." Module 14, pp. M14-8 to M14-19. Biographic sketch of César Chavez.
16	The Big Dig, Part 1
17	The Big Dig, Part 2
18	Social Influence, Communications and Selling Ideas	[M] "Issue Selling from Within." Module 13, pp. M13-6 to M13-11. [M] "Inex." Module 13, pp. M13-14 to M13-19.
19	Organizational Change	[M] "Organizational Change." Module 8, pp. M8-6 to M8-21. [M] "The Strategy that Wouldn't Travel." Module 8, pp. M8-22 to M8-25.
20	Organizational Change (cont.)	"Internship Protocol and Cases." (class handout)
21	Managing the Innovation Process	[K&S] Brockley, Ellen, et al. "The Next Technological Revolution: Predicting the Technical Future and its Impact on Firms, Organizations and Ourselves." pp. 259-285.
22	Team Presentations
23	Alumni Panel
24	Technology and Its Social Context
25	Inventing the Future
26	Inventing the Future (cont.)