mba 236 | Syllabus
Spring 2010 Professor Jerry D. Estenson
CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, SACRAMENTO
College of Business Administration
MBA 236 - Special Topics - Leading Transformational Change in Complex Organizations Using Multiple Lens
OFFICE: Tahoe – 2048
OFFICE HOURS: MW: 2:30 - 4:00 and by appointment
OFFICE PHONE Good Choice: 278-6781 (CSUS)
EMAIL: Good Choice: estenson@csus.edu (Campus)
(Messages picked up on Monday and Wednesday)
Best Choice jestenso@earthlink.net (Other World)
(Messages picked up seven days a week)
WEBSITE: www.csus.edu/indiv/e/estenson
Required Text for all seminar participants:
Please read books in the order in which they appear on this list. Sequential reading will facilitate your participation in the class.
Books:
1. Andriopoulos, Constantine & Dawson, Patrick Soder, (2009). Managing Change, Creativity and Innovation. Thousand Oaks, CA
Jossey Bass.
2. Beach Roy Lee. (2006). Leadership and the Art of Change. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage
3. Auletta, Ken. (2009). Googled: The End of the World as We Know It. New York: Penguin Press
4. Ricks, Thomas E. (2009). The Gamble: General David Petraeus and American Military Adventure in Iraq, 2006 - 2008
Article:
Immett, Jeffrey, Govindaranjan, Vijay & Trimble, Chris. How GE disrupted itself. Harvard Business Review Reprint Number: R0910D
Case Studies:
IBM
Kanter, Rosabeth Moss. (October 7, 2009) IBM in the 21st Century: The Coming of the Globally Integrated Enterprise. HBR Case Number: 9-308-105
Nissan
Burgleman, Leslie (May 19, 2008). The Renault - Nissan Alliance in 2008: Exploiting the Potential of a Novel Organizational Form. Stanford Graduate School of Business. Available through Harvard Business School Press. Case Number: SM-166
Self Created Case Study:
Goldman Sachs - From Chaos to Profitability
COURSE OVERVIEW
From the instructor's perspective organizations that are able to accomplish their purpose and consistently outperform their peers are those who can change out their engines while in flight. To perform this seemingly impossible feat requires significant leadership which entails a clear view of the organization's potential, a plan to get there and behaviors that support others along the journey. At the core of the leader's behavior is understanding their and the organization's strengths and weakness. To assist in understanding this complex process we will use many tools as reflected in the above list of readings.
You will be expected by course end to have mastered a number of techniques available to transform organizations and to understand leadership behaviors required to drive change. In addition you will have demonstrated the ability to analyze complex change initiatives to determine what factors contributed to their success or failure. All of this will be done in a high- paced intense learning environment. This environment is created to simulate the world in which you will operate as you move to more senior positions in organizations.
This approach to learning has proven highly successful in developing senior leaders and will provide an opportunity for you to decide if you are going to lead or become a technocrat. Organizations need people in both roles and it is important that you sort out at which end of the continuum you want to spend your energy and talent.
Attempting to learn and teach in this environment is challenging for both the instructor and the student. With that in mind we can expect difficulties and adjustments. How we handle these challenges will be part of our joint learning process.
COURSE DESCRIPTION
During the seminar you will be introduced to the concepts and practice of leadership and organizational behavior through a collection of readings which we will translate into models used to explain human behavior in organizations. Through developing and apply models we can learn how possible leader actions may stimulate responses from followers. These perspectives provide different world-views, complete with assumptions about the nature of human kind, the role of organizations, and what should or should not be done by a leader. Several of these views will be in conflict. For instances viewing a leader as a Jazz musician is very different than a leader as military commander and viewing the leader as facilitator is very different from leader as NFL coach. These leadership metaphors will be developed as you progress through the readings, listen to the riveting lectures, participate in class discussions and conduct your analysis.
COURSE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
Goal One
Provide the opportunity to study different theories related to the art and practice of leading change. This process should stimulate new ways of thinking about leader and follower behaviors in organizations.
Outcome:
Active involvement in class discussion of theories and demonstration of knowledge of concepts
in observations papers. Ability to translate knowledge into a thoughtful analysis of a leader's
behaviors
Goal Two
Provide leadership opportunities in class settings.
Outcome:
Application of lessons learned in classroom to class assignments are an integral part of the
process and should lead to transferring new knowledge to a work place.
Goal Three
Increase competencies necessary to handle complex leader-follower-organizational relationships by better understanding fundamental concepts of human behavior in an organization.
Outcome:
Modify behavior at work, on teams, and in the classroom to reflect a contextually appropriate
leadership style and appropriate use of your talent.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS & GRADES
Mastery of Basic Leadership Concepts
You will be tested to insure that you have mastered the assigned material. You will be called upon in class to provide your perspective on various leadership theories and analysis of cases studied and readings. These are opportunities to demonstrate that you have mastered the language and fundamental concepts of leadership and imbedded human drives.
Mastery of Complex Tools Needed to Analyze Change
You will prepare case analysis of organizations in different sectors. You will critique the behavior or increasingly larger organizations and their efforts to transform themselves
Performance Metrics
Class Participation (10%)
You will be expected to come to class having read all pre-class assignments. You will be asked to present your views on the articles and any significant learning which resulted from the readings and case analysis. Higher grades will be given to students who consistently provide relevant and quality observations on readings and exercises, are willing to take on the role of leader or follower in class exercises, and are a willing participant in group discussions. In addition each candidate will be placed in the role of leader for a group activity. How effectively they perform the role of leader will have an impact on this metric.
Instructor's Expectation;
Each candidate will attend class prepared to participate in discussions and contribute to their team. They will conduct themselves in a professional manner demonstrating respect for other seminar members. They will not attempt to control discussions but will make thoughtful contributions that assist group learning.
Individual Master (20 %)
Individual Papers:
At the onset of the course each candidate will prepare a short paper which contains three key elements:
1. What they view as the most significant issue facing an organization today. They are free to pick the organization
2. What do they determine to be the core issues contributing to the problem
3. What course of action would they propose the organization take to address the issue
At the end of the course each candidate will prepare the same paper on the same organization.
Instructor Expectation:
During the semester you will develop a higher skill set in recognizing organizational issues and preparation of recommendations.
Are you actually doing the reading:
At the conclusion of each block of basic knowledge (readings) you will be given a short multiple choice exam based on the material.
Instructor's Expectation:
Each candidate will have read the assigned material and have mastered the key concepts to the extent that they will receive a score of 90% or higher on each examination
Team Analysis and Recommendation of Assigned Case Studies (30%)
The class will be divided into study teams. The teams will be responsible for preparing a written analysis and a 15 minute seminar on their evaluation of the case and their recommendation/observations. The structure of the seminar can take any form the group decides but must cover as a minimum: key factors affecting the organization's environment, an issue definition, analysis of root cause, options and recommendation/major observation.
Instructor's Expectations:
Each team will prepare a well written paper and seminar using models contained in course texts, academic material or publicly available material on the organization under study. The paper will contain all elements discussed above and should not exceed five pages in length. Delivery of the material during the seminar will be left up to the team. As part of the presentation each team will prepare a one page briefing paper for the entire class. The paper will be handed out at the start of the presentation. Each team's presentation will be graded by the instructor and the class. The written analysis will constitute 70% of the value of the project and the presentation will make up 30%.
Team Analysis of Assigned Organizations (40%)
You will again be broken into action teams to evaluate the actions of leaders in Google and the United States Military National Command structure. Your team will analyze the data provided in the books and present a written analysis of the organizations in a manner similar to the approach used in the in case studies. Again your team will be asked to present your analysis and recommendation to the entire class and provide the instructor with a written copy. The same point distribution between paper and presentation will be used.
Instructor Expectations:
Your team will have mastered the skill of case analysis, problem statement development, alternative creation, and presentation of a thoughtful support recommendation. The result will be a tightly crafted written analysis which will not exceed five (5) pages in length. You will also be skilled in presenting a tightly crafted analysis, problem statement, set of alternatives and recommendation/observation to your peers.
Additional Instructor Expectation:
Dazzle them with your brilliance.
POINT MATRIX
| Activity | Point per activity | Total Points |
| Class Participation | 100 starting point. You will lose points as you miss classes or failure to connect brain and mouth during class discussions | 100 |
| Individual Activities | Your view of an organization paper. 40 points for each paper | 80 |
| Are you doing the reading check points? Three exams 40 each exam | 120 | |
| Case Studies | Three case studies 100 points per study | 300 |
| Major Organization Change Study | Two organizations: Google and United States Military. 200 points per study | 400 |
| Total Points | 1000 |
SEMINAR OUTLINE
The following course guide is provided to help focus our learning activities. The instructor reserves to right to modify the sequence or content to match the flow of the seminar.
| Date/Week | Readings | Topic | Activity |
Week One January 25 Monday |
Adriopoulos Chapter 1 |
Managing Change, Creativity and Innovation | Course Overview Teaching philosophy First writing assignment Discussion on levels of analysis Chapter activities |
Week Two February 1 Monday |
Adriopoulos Chapter 2, 3, 4 |
Change Process Management History Creative Economy |
|
Week Three February 8 |
Adriopoulos Chapter 5, 6, 7 |
The individual The Group The Leader |
Exam One |
Week Four February 15 |
Adriopoulos Chapter 8, 9, 10 |
Internal Systems Culture The Organization |
|
Week Five February 22 |
Adriopoulos Chapter 11, 12 |
Theory Conclusion of discussions on organizational creativity |
Exam Two |
Week Six March 1 |
Beach Chapters 1, 2, 3 |
Leader Behaviors | |
Week Seven March 8 |
Beach Chapters 4, 5, 6, 7 |
Leader Behaviors | Exam Three |
Week Eight March 15 |
G.E. Article IBM Case |
Change from CEO perspective |
Organizational Analysis and Presentation Start work on IBM case |
Week Nine March 22 |
IBM Case Nissan Case |
Changing a Global Organization: A unique approach |
Present IBM case Start work on Nissan case |
| March 29 - April 4 |
SPRING | BREAK | |
Week Ten April 5 |
Nissan case Goldman Saks case |
Present Nissan case Start work on Goldman Saks |
|
Week Eleven April 12 |
Goldman Saks case |
Changing an organization in a troubled industry |
Present Goldman Saks Start work on Google analysis |
Week Twelve April 19 |
From start up to adult organization | Work on Google analysis | |
Week Thirteen April 26 |
Google Gamble |
Present Google Start work on Gamble |
|
Week Fourteen May 3 |
Gamble |
Changing an organization while fighting a war | Work on Gamble analysis |
Week Fifteen May 10 |
Gamble |
Present Gamble Turn in final organizational analysis paper |
|
Finals Week |
Receive Final Score |