If you place in a bottle half a dozen bees and the same number of flies, and lay the bottle down horizontally, with its base to the window, you will find that the bees will persist, till they die of exhaustion or hunger, in their endeavor to discover an issue through the glass; while the flies, in less than two minutes, will all have sallied forth through the neck on the opposite side. . . . It is their (the bees') love of light, it is their very intelligence, that is their undoing in this experiment. They evidently imagine that the issue from every prison must be there where the light shines clearest; and they act in accordance, and persist in too logical action. To them glass is a supernatural mystery they never have met in nature; they have had no experience of this suddenly impenetrable atmosphere; and the greater their intelligence, the more inadmissible, more incomprehensible, will the strange obstacle appear. Whereas the feather-brained flies, careless of logic as of the enigma of crystal, disregarding the call of light, flutter wildly hither and thither, and meeting here the good fortune that often waits on the simple, who find salvation there where the wiser will perish, necessarily end by discovering the friendly opening that restores their liberty to them. (Maurice Maeterlinck, Belgian, 1862-1949) [Siu, 1968, p. 189].
A mind, stretched to a new idea, never returns to its original dimension. --Oliver Wendell Holmes
It is the ideas of a business that are controlling, not some manager with authority. -- Robert Haas, CEO at Levi-Strauss
The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes. -- Marcel Proust
The purpose of this course is to increase your capacity to diagnose complex human systems and to understand the dynamics of managing change. This course is both philosophical (i.e., reflective) and practical. It is philosophical in the sense that you will be encouraged to think about implicit assumptions regarding human nature and how organizations function and you will be challenged to expand some of these theories. It is practical in the sense that emphasis will be placed on strategies and technologies for diagnosis and planning. The core question that we will seek to address is: how can we create human systems that are as intelligent as its members?
Organizations are social systems comprised of several interdependent components - technology, structure, task, culture, and people. Change efforts must take all these components into account. This course will examine approaches to planning and managing change efforts which recognize this complexity. Emphasis will be placed on strategies and technologies for diagnosis and planning aimed at effective implementation. This course is application- oriented and intended to enhance skill development; thus, it will employ an experiential approach to learning.
Readings and cases to be handed out in class.
Dates Topic of session
--- Overview of Course.
Introduction of syllabus.
The power of ideas: how theories and values guide perception of reality.
--- Post-industrial revolution.
Read:
Senge: Chap. 1,2, and 10
Vaill: "Permanent White Water"
Optional reading: Business Week: "The Information Revolution"
Drucker: "The Coming of the New Organization"
--- Introduction to Planned Change
Morrison: "Gunfire at Sea"
Harvard Business School Note: "Leading Change"
Harvard Business School Note: "The Challenge of Change"
Students will be asked to prepare a one to two page case study. Instructions will be discussed in class.
--- Models of Planned change
Read:
First National Bank (A)
Kotter and Schlesinger: "Choosing Strategies for Change"
Groups will be asked to write a 1 -3 page change strategy for First National Bank. It will be necessary to meet outside of class to complete this assignment and bring it to the next class.
--- Resistance and Transition
The three step model of change: Unfreezing; changing; re-freezing.
Read:
Lawrence: "Resistance to Change"
Bryant: "The Psychology of Resistance to Change"
Lawrence and Seiler: "The Effect of Group Decision on Subsequent Behavior"
Lawrence and Seiler: "Participation in Decision Making and Work Group Productivity"
Schein: "Planned Change"
Bridges: Excerpts from Surviving Corporate Transition.
First National Bank (B).
After reading Part B, prepare to discuss the following questions in class. Be prepared to discuss the case in light of the theories and concepts addressed in the articles above:
a.) Why was Reed "concerned and angry" by what he saw in his new position?
b.) What was the factory concept and how would it solve the problems he saw?
c.) How successful was Reed's implementation of change? What criteria should be used to evaluate the success of a change effort?
d.) What would you have done differently?
--- Systems theory and organizational change: Senge's systems loops
Read: Senge chaps. 4-6 and appendix 2.
--- Models of Organizational Diagnosis
Do:
Steps in Organizational Models Exercise (Put your model on a large flip-chart sheet and bring to class.)
Read (after completing above exercise):
Senge chaps. 7, 8, and 17
--- Mechanistic theories of organizing
Read: "Principles of Scientific Management"
"A Visit to McDonald's"
"Strengths of Mechanistic Organizing"
"Lordstown Auto Plant"
Bushe and Shani chaps 1 and 2.
--- Orgsimone (9am - 5pm)
We will meet from 9am to 5pm Saturday, August 3, for an organization simulation. Students have in the past, found this to be a very rewarding and stimulating experience. If, for some reason, a student cannot attend this class, a make-up assignment will be substituted (worth 20 points).
Reading in preparation for simulation:
Barrett: "Creating Appreciative Learning Cultures"
Rubin and Rubin: "Interviews as Guided Conversations"
--- Intergroup mirroring
Read:
"Action Research applied to organizational development"
Senge: Chaps. 9, 11
--- Envisioning the Ideal Organization: Do we know what healthy organizations look like?
Read:
Barrett: Jazz Improvisation and Organizational Innovation"
Senge: Chap. 12.
Readings and cases for remainder of class to be announced. (If you want to read ahead, we will be reading Bushe and Shani chaps 3,4,6 and 7).
Texts:
Senge, Peter. The Fifth Discipline. New York: Doubleday, 1990.
Bushe, G. and A. B. Shani. Parallel Learning Structures. Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley, 1991.
TRUE TO THE SPIRIT OF THIS COURSE, THIS SYLLABUS IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE
ASSIGNMENTS
This course emphasizes the maximum involvement of the learners in the learning process. Thorough preparation of the readings and cases is absolutely essential to make this a successful experience. Students will be asked to present readings, lead case discussions, make formal presentations, participate in role plays and simulations.
Grades on classroom involvement will be based on the quality of class participation (i.e., those who speak up intelligently will be rated higher than those who simply speak up; those who analyze case information will be rated higher than those who repeat factual information; those who interact and attempt to integrate their ideas with others will be rated higher than those who only interact with the instructor).
What distinguishes graduate education from undergraduate education is the expectation that students take responsibility for their own learning. Students are expected to integrate ideas from the readings into class discussions. 20 points.
Interview Paper
A paper, written with the classmate of your choosing, based on interviews of managers and executives. This will be discussed further in class. 25 points.
Exams
Short exams will be given. This will be discussed further in class. 10 points each.
Final project: case analysis.
A final integrative group paper will be discussed in class. (Groups have a number of options to choose from, including writing a case study, analyzing a pre-written case, doing an organizational analysis. These options will be discussed further in class.) 25 points.
Peer evaluation
As part of evaluation of participation in group projects, each student will be asked to rate the quality of his/her teammates' contributions. This will be discussed further in class. 10 points.