OB 258 Organizational Growth

In this course, our purpose will be to explore issues in managing a growing organization. To this end, three general questions will guide our inquiry: 1) Why do the opportunities for organizational growth vary with a firm's size, strategy, and situation? 2) What challenges typically arise as firms grow? and 3) How can managers take advantages of these opportunities and deal with these challenges? The answers to these questions depend on the characteristics of your firm and of its competitive environment. In a small firm, one is challenged to create an initial growth trajectory, and then adapt the firm and its strategies to the requirements of larger-scale operation. By contrast, in a larger, more established firm, the key challenge is to sustain growth -- through revitalizing current businesses or possibly by expanding into new areas. The challenge in both contexts is for managers to design the organization as a system that can grow successfully. Doing so requires sophisticated understanding of organizational processes.

OB 264 Organizational Change

Organizations that operate in dynamic environments frequently change strategy and structure to try to keep pace. However, organizations generally find that change takes longer and is more disruptive than expected. Indeed, deep change can prove disastrous. This course uses sociological theory and reseach to understand these patterns. Analysis of cases of various kinds of organizational change allows exploration of managerial implications concerning both the decision to enact change and ways of guiding change processes.

OB 266 Organization for Strategic Advantage

Management analysts agree that the success of a firm's strategy almost always depends on the design of its organization. This course explores issues concerned with designing and changing organizations for strategic advantage. It provides a framework that emphasizes three key elements of an organization: formal architecture, culture, and social networks. Core aspects of each element are scrutinized (as well as their interplay) to assess how they relate to particular firm strategies, and how they shape organizational performance and change in contexts ranging from high-technology to consumer retailing. The course also examines how the three elements create an organization's identity and its consequences for strategic advantage.

OB 271 Dynamics of Organizations

This course examines fundamental issues in organizational design and organizational change. It emphasizes the interplay among formal structure, informal networks, and culture in shaping organizational action. It also explores the sources of organizational inertia and their implications for managing change.

OB 275 Organization and Leadership

Why do successful organizations sometimes fail (e.g., think RCA, Polaroid, Pan Am and others)? The answer is not obvious, for these companies, when successful have all the resources and capabilities to stay on top financial, market, intellectual and technological. Yet the puzzling evidence is that successful companies often lose their competitive edge. This course focuses on one proximal cause for these failures: The role of leaders and their senior teams in designing and changing organizations. We will emphasize the interplay among leadership, organizational architecture, culture and change in founding, growing, managing, and transforming organizations over time. The goal of the course is to help you develop a pragmatic framework that you can use for organizational problem solving in your future role as a leader.

OB 284 Organizational Learning

This is a course about why firms do not learn from their experiences and the opportunities created by flawed learning. It will explore common mistakes in learning and barriers to the adoption of effective practices. Understanding learning problems will help future managers avoid common mistakes and build organizations that learn more effectively; learning is particularly important for entrepreneurs who are trying out new ideas and so must adapt correctly to feedback from the environment. But understanding common mistakes is also useful for identifying possible opportunities in markets; opportunities exist when firms make mistakes and when they fail to learn effective practices. The course will introduce concepts and findings from organization theory, psychology, decision theory, and statistics. A variety of exercises, cases, and readings will be used to illustrate barriers to learning and the opportunities they create. Readings will include teaching notes, papers in psychology and organization theory, HBR articles, as well as the book "Moneyball" by Michael Lewis which discusses market-level mistakes in professional baseball.

OB 314 Urban School System Reform

This seminar is intended to give students the opportunity to assume the role of school district leadership and formulate strategies for enacting large-scale reform of complex school systems. Instruction will be anchored in discussion surrounding in-depth case studies of urban school systems, and will draw upon the contributions of outside guests and speakers who have either led or supported the process of district change. The course will draw on frameworks and approaches developed in the study of management, organizational behavior, and school reform. Attention will be given to the political and community context surrounding district reform, and how urban superintendents and administrators can evaluate and account for external context in creating effective reform strategies. In addition, students will gain familiarity with the unique conditions under which district reform is undertaken (e.g., labor relations, regulatory environment). Students will be asked to synthesize the lessons of the course by working in groups to complete a final project focused on developing a reform strategy for a large urban district.

OB 315 Frontiers of Social Innovation

This course is a Bass Seminar. This seminar will explore socially innovative organizations that are working across the traditional borders between government, business, and social sector. A well-known example would be Grameen Bank which engages in microlending and earns normal market-level returns but organizes itself to improve the lives of the poorest of the poor (thus applying business principles in the service of a social sector goal). There are hundreds more organizations that are less well known but are pursuing innovative strategies. During the course you will study these socially innovative organizations and prepare case studies that good enough for publication in the Stanford Social Innovation Review and for use in classrooms. Case studies might consider issues of strategy, mission, organization, or marketing. During Winter quarter we will discuss social innovation, select appropriate topics for the case studies, and complete initial background research and interviewing.

Cases would be finished by the middle of the Spring quarter and you will present your cases to the class. Admission to this course is by application. Applicants should have: - Interest in social innovation.

Include a couple of paragraphs to demonstrate your interest in social innovation (e.g., previous work experience, volunteer experience, coursework, conferences, etc.). If you have an organization you know you'd like to study you should mention it, but most people will make their decisions about what to study during class. - Writing skills.
Because the goal for this class is to develop publishable case studies, your writing ability is important. Include a 1-3 page writing sample that shows your writing talents (e.g., a paper you wrote for a course or an article you wrote for some publication). The application process is blind.

OB 322 Managing Social Networks in Organizations

This course is designed to improve your effectiveness as a manager by introducing you to both the concepts and tools that are part of the "new science of social networks" as they apply to organizations. In this course, you will develop the skills to understand social networks and recognize social capital, both offline and online, as well as be able to identify key elements of your own and others? social networks that enhance competitive capabilities. Topics to be covered include how social networks affect power and influence, leadership, innovation and the generation of novel ideas, careers, organizational change and competitive advantage. Additional topics to be covered include the increasing importance of online social networks in organizational life and the importance of social cognition and how it can be used to enhance social capital. At the conclusion of this course you will have the skills to map out social networks, diagnose features of the networks that either help or hinder the performance of individuals, groups and companies, and be able to manage important features of social networks in organizations.

OB 330 Leadership Fellows I

The Arbuckle Leadership Fellows Program plays an integral role in the GSB leadership curriculum by bringing together a group of talented second years to support the leadership development of the first-year class. OB330, an 8 unit two-quarter MBA2 elective course, is the academic component of this program and runs the entirety of both Autumn and Winter Quarters. Both quarters must be completed to receive any units of credit. The course is open only to those students who have applied and been accepted into the Fellows Program. Interested students apply during Winter Quarter of their first year and undergo a competitive application process, after which successful applicants are invited to take part in the program. Informational meetings are held early in Winter Quarter and Fellows are selected from the first year class at the end of Winter Quarter.

Knowing how to develop others is a crucial leadership competency. In this class, Fellows develop the advanced leadership skills of leading leaders and developing others through coaching and mentoring. Among the competencies developed in this class are: 1) Team Coaching Skills (e.g. facilitating a group, diagnosing group dynamics, debriefing, coaching without undermining the leader), 2) Individual Coaching Skills (e.g. effective inquiry, asking powerful questions, balancing support and challenge, providing effective feedback, holding others accountable, utilizing, valuing and connecting across differences and power differentials, using oneself in service of another's development) and 3) Personal Development Skills (e.g. self-reflection and self-awareness, leveraging strengths, stretching outside one's comfort zone.)

In the Autumn Quarter Fellows are assigned to a squad of six MBA1s in Leadership Labs. Fellows guide their MBA1 squad through the learning process in the Labs and provide both individual and team coaching to their MBA1 squad members. In addition to the work with their MBA 1 squad, Fellows provide in-depth 1:1 coaching to three additional MBA1 students who are not members of their squad. This 1:1 coaching begins after Autumn midterms and continues through the end of Winter Quarter.

Fellows classes meet twice a week for 105 minutes. There will be a reading list of conceptual material which will be supplemented during class with lectures and discussions. Students will have the opportunity to apply those concepts through role-playing and experiential exercises during class time as well as in their coaching and mentoring of their MBA1 coachees. Additionally, Fellows will attend weekly Leadership Labs with the first year squad to which they have been assigned and meet 1:1 with MBA1 coachees. Fellows meet regularly with five of their peers in "clinics," standing groups led by a GSB Leadership Coaches, professional executive coaches who are a staff members of the school's Center for Leadership Development and Research (CLDR). Fellows meet with their Leadership Coach and clinic approximately every other week during regular class time to discuss specific strategies for working with their first year students. Fellows also periodically meet with their Leadership Coach one-on-one to hone their skills and explore their areas for specific improvement.

Note: OB374, Interpersonal Dynamics, is a PRE/CO-REQUISITE for this course. Additionally, signing up for 1:1 coaching by a Fellow strengthens a MBA1 student's application to the Arbuckle Leadership Fellows program.

OB 331 Leadership Fellows II

This course is the continuation of Leadership Fellows I, an 8-unit course that begins in Autumn Quarter. During this quarter Fellows will continue to deepen their coaching and mentoring skills, and will focus exclusively on in-depth 1:1 coaching with three MBA1 coachees (who were not members of their MBA1 squad.) Classes and clinics continue as in Autumn Quarter.

OB 333 Acting with Power

The ability to function effectively within a hierarchy is a crucial determinant of managerial success, yet many people struggle with "authority issues" that make certain hierarchical roles and positions difficult for them. This course draws on the craft of acting and the science of psychology to help students learn to use themselves to develop the characters that can play these roles effectively.

This class is designed specifically for students who have trouble "playing" authoritative roles: those who find it difficult to act with power, status, and authority. It will also be useful for students who find it difficult to share power and authority, which involves accepting and deferring to the power and authority of others. Participants will be asked to read, think deeply about, and share some of their own feelings about power and authority, and the origins of those feelings. They will also be asked to prepare for and present a series of in-class performances that involve playing characters with and without power, in scenes that highlight the interactions and relationships between high and low power characters. These performances will take up much of our time during class. Out-of-class assignments will include reading important works on psychology, and on the theory and practice of acting, as well as writing short essays analyzing their own and others' performances.

OB 342 Working with Diversity

Minorities, women, and immigrants currently make up more than 50% of the United States workforce, and these groups are projected to make up approximately 85% of the workforce within the next ten years. Moreover, the workplace is becoming ever more global. The opportunity to share unique experiences and perspectives offers the promise of innovation and growth. However, demographic (e.g., race, gender, class) and cultural differences can also lead to misunderstanding and conflict, which can undermine organizations' efficiency. This course aims to help participants develop a better understanding of how such differences can affect organizations and individuals' experience of the workplace. This will be accomplished through readings and class discussions, as well as activities outside of the classroom.

OB 358 Organizational Growth

In this course, our purpose will be to explore issues in managing a growing organization. To this end, three general questions will guide our inquiry: 1) Why do the opportunities for organizational growth vary with a firm's size, strategy, and situation? 2) What challenges typically arise as firms grow? and 3) How can managers take advantages of these opportunities and deal with these challenges? The answers to these questions depend on the characteristics of your firm and of its competitive environment. In a small firm, one is challenged to create an initial growth trajectory, and then adapt the firm and its strategies to the requirements of larger-scale operation. By contrast, in a larger, more established firm, the key challenge is to sustain growth -- through revitalizing current businesses or possibly by expanding into new areas. The challenge in both contexts is for managers to design the organization as a system that can grow successfully. Doing so requires sophisticated understanding of organizational processes. Note: Course OB 358 is an extended version of course OB 258.

OB 361 Changing Strategy and Organization

The theme of this course is that over reliance on the assumption that people are rational and profit maximizers can lead managers and policy analysts astray. People are rational but their rationality is bounded by various cognitive constraints; similarly, people are self-interested but their self-interest is bounded by various other motivations. The goal of the course is to show how knowledge of the limitations of the economic model can make you a more effective manager. For example, we will see how and when people's motivation to receive and give fair treatment trumps self-interest considerations. We will also consider the basis of effective appeals to public spiritedness and civic responsibility. Finally, we will see how recognizing motives other than self-interest can produce greater compliance to organizational rules and ethical standards.

OB 362 Leadership Coaching and Mentoring

This two-quarter course is offered for 6 units and runs for the Winter and Spring Quarters. Both quarters must be completed to receive any units of credit. THERE IS BOTH A PREQUALIFICATION AND A PRE/CO-REQUISITE for this course. It is open to a maximum of 24 MBA2s who have passed an assessment of their potential to coach effectively, though they need not have been coached as first years. (The number of students may be increased to 36 if sufficient first-year coachees are identified.) The pre/co-requisite is OB 374-Interpersonal Dynamics. (If taken as a co-requisite, OB 374 must be taken in the winter quarter.)

There will be a reading list of conceptual material which will be supplemented during class with lectures and discussions. Students will have the opportunity to apply those concepts through role-playing and exercises during class time. Each MBA2 will be assigned three MBA1s to coach. The MBA2 coaches will meet with their MBA1s five times each quarter (i.e. a total of 10 coaching sessions) in a series of semi-structured coaching activities. In addition, the MBA2 students will meet, in groups of 6, with a Master Coach for a two-hour clinic approximately every other Friday during the Winter Quarter during class time. During Spring Quarter, students will meet every Monday (only) from 3:15 to 5:00 pm (alternating between class and clinics) with two additional Friday classes to be held on Friday, April 1, and Friday, April, 15 from 3:15 to 5:00 pm.

Note: Students MUST attend the first class (including waitlisted) or they will be dropped.

OB 363 Leadership Perspectives

What does it mean to be a principled leader? What role do values play in an organization, and how do successful leaders apply their values in their daily business lives? This course examines the concept of principled leadership and the various ways that leaders try to institutionalize particular values within the organizations they lead. Equally important, it explores the difficult challenges that leaders sometimes face when trying to apply their principles in a tough, fast-paced business environment, where others may not share the same expectations. Through assigned readings, interactive lectures with visiting executives, and weekly small group discussions, students will learn how practicing leaders implement their principles, while reflecting the realities of different cultural expectations and meeting business demands. The course will provide a forum for students to learn directly from practicing leaders and to think introspectively about their own personal values, leadership styles, and long-term aspirations.

OB 364 Organizational Change

Organizations that operate in dynamic environments frequently change strategy and structure to try to keep pace. However, organizations generally find that change takes longer and is more disruptive than expected. Indeed, deep change can prove disastrous. This course uses sociological theory and reseach to understand these patterns. Analysis of cases of various kinds of organizational change allows exploration of managerial implications concerning both the decision to enact change and ways of guiding change processes.

A research paper on a case of organizational change provides an opportunity to go more deeply into managerial implications.

OB 366 Organization for Strategic Advantage

Management analysts agree that the success of a firm's strategy almost always depends on the design of its organization. This course explores issues concerned with designing and changing organizations for strategic advantage. It provides a framework that emphasizes three key elements of an organization: formal architecture, culture, and social networks. Core aspects of each element are scrutinized (as well as their interplay) to assess how they relate to particular firm strategies, and how they shape organizational performance and change in contexts ranging from high-technology to consumer retailing. The course also examines how the three elements create an organization's identity and its consequences for strategic advantage. (This first five weeks of the course are the same as OB 266 except that OB 266 does not require a final project/paper).

OB 367 Research and Practice on Organizing Urban Schools for Improvement

This course is a Bass Seminar. For masters' and doctoral students in Education and GSB. Empirical research on urban school reform efforts, theoretical frameworks on student and adult learning, the sociology of work in schools, and social organization theory. How community context affects instructional coherence. Dynamics between school professionals and with parents. Authentic instruction and its effects. Case studies on reform implementation.

OB 368 How to Make Ideas Stick

Having a good idea is not enough, we must also be able to convey our ideas in a way that people can understand and act on them. But often our messages don't persuade or persist. This course assumes that we can craft more effective messages by understanding the principles that make certain ideas stick in the natural social environment: Urban legends survive in the social marketplace without advertising dollars to support them or PR professionals to spin them. How could we make true or useful information survive as well as bogus rumors? We will use research in sociology, folklore, and psychology to analyze what kinds of ideas survive the selection process in the marketplace of ideas and to develop a set of strategic tools to craft ideas that are more likely to survive. Topics covered include crafting messages for complex information that don't exceed the capacity of human attention and memory, using emotional appeals that inspire people and motivate action, acquiring attention in a crowded environment, and gaining legitimacy for new ideas, approaches, and technologies.

OB 372 High-Performance Leadership

This course asks the question: "What does it take to build high-performance?" The focus is on middle and upper-middle management in contemporary organizations that have complex tasks, exist in a rapidly changing environment, and have highly skilled subordinates. The premise of the course is that traditional methods of management may produce adequate levels of performance but prevent excellence from developing. New approaches to leadership will be presented that are more likely to lead to a truly high-performing system. Time will be spent discussing the components of effective leadership, what a manager can do to build a compelling vision, strong tea,s, and mutual influence sideways and upwards as well as with direct reports. Also, what members can do to support the leader who wants to initiate such changes.

In addition to class, students will meet for 2 1/2 hours each week in a Skill Development Group to apply the course material to their own personal development.

(While there is minimal overlap in content between OB 372 and OB 374 and these two classes are highly complementary, both require Journals and an evening group. We recommend against taking both classes in the same quarter for workload reasons.)

OB 374 Interpersonal Dynamics

The focus of this course is to increase one's competencies in building more effective relationships. Learning is primarily through feedback from other group members. This course is very involving and, at times, can be quite emotional. However, this course is not a substitute for therapy; we deal more with inter-personal issues than with intra-personal ones. If you are in therapy, please talk this over with your therapist and get their advice before enrolling in this course. The students are divided into three 12-person T-groups that meet the same evening of the class. It is very important to note that when you decide to take this course, you make an explicit contract to be actively involved. The class has a weekend retreat the seventh or eighth week (check your specific section) of the course. Because of the highly interactive nature of this course, it is very important that all students attend all sessions. Missing class, class-t-group, evening T-group, or portions of the weekend will negatively influence your grade and may result in a student's grade being dropped one grade level (for each absence). Arriving late on Friday to the weekend will negatively influence your grade level- missing any more of the weekend beyond that will result in a U. Students must pre-qualify before taking this course. Qualification essays are due 10 days before the first day of the class. More information about the qualification process can be found at http://faculty-gsb2.stanford.edu/OB_374_Qualification/default.asp.

OB 377 The Paths to Power

Power and influence processes are ubiquitous and important in organizations, so leaders need to be able both to understand power and to act on that knowledge. This course has three objectives: 1) increasing students' ability to diagnose and analyze power and politics in organizational situations; 2) increase students' skills in exercising power effectively; and 3) helping students come to terms with the inherent dilemmas and choices, and their own ambivalence, involved in developing and exercising influence. Topics covered include: the sources of power, including individual attributes and structural position; dealing with resistance and conflict; obtaining allies and supporters; maintaining power; how and why power is lost; living in the limelight--the price of having power; preparing oneself to obtain power; and the use of language and symbolism in exercising power.

The class involves a reasonably large number of written, self-reflective assignments as well as a group project (doing a power diagnosis on an external subject) and an individual project (using the class material during the quarter to gain power in some group or organization or develop a plan for doing so). The emphasis is on both learning the material and incorporating it into one's own actions and plans.

OB 381 Conflict Management and Negotiation

Conflict is unavoidable in every organization. The key question is how it will be handled: will it escalate to dysfunctional levels or will it be effectively managed? Hence, a first aim of the course is to develop your ability to analyze conflicts, to look beneath the surface rhetoric of a conflict, to isolate the important underlying interests, and to determine what sort of agreement (if any) is feasible. We'll analyze which negotiation strategies are effective in different conflicts. We'll also examine psychological and structural factors that create conflict and often pose a barrier to its resolution.

But understanding how to analyze a conflict is not enough. To manage conflict effectively, you need a broad repertoire of behavioral skills. Developing these is the second aim of the course.

To achieve this, negotiation exercises are used in every session. When playing a role in a simulated conflict, you will be free to try out tactics that might feel uncomfortable in a real one. You will get feedback from your classmates about how you come across. You will have an opportunity to reflect on your experience in your negotiation log. In sum, you can use this course to expand your repertoire of skills, to hone your skills, and to become more adept in choosing when to apply each skill.

OB 383. Lives of Consequence: How Individuals Discover Paths to Meaningful Engagement

This Bass Seminar will examine the lives of extra-ordinary individuals who have made exceptional contributions to society, either through their impact on business, politics, or the arts. We will take a close look, for example, at creative individuals such as Steve Jobs, George Lucas, and Pixar's Brad Bird; political achievers such as Margaret Thatcher, John F. Kennedy, Tony Blair, and Martin Luther King; and business leaders such as Bill Gates, Whole Foods CEO John Mackay, and Starbuck's Howard Schultz (to name just a few). We will use these examples to develop ideas about the narrative unfolding of creative and extra-ordinary lives. Using theories and evidence from the social and behavioral sciences, we will develop a conceptual framework for thinking about individuals' "paths to extra-ordinary achievement." Drawing on psychological and philosophical theory and research, we will also examine how human achievement relates to happiness and perceptions of meaning in one's life. Participants in this seminar will work in small groups to study individuals or domains of special interest. Students will also have an opportunity to apply the framework to their own lives using a series of enjoyable reflective exercises. The seminar will be very discussion oriented and quite lively. The goal of the seminar is to change how you think about your self and your life - and that is an exciting and engaging challenge.

OB 384 Organizational Learning

This is a course about why firms do not learn from their experiences and the opportunities created by flawed learning. It will explore common mistakes in learning and barriers to the adoption of effective practices. Understanding learning problems will help future managers avoid common mistakes and build organizations that learn more effectively; learning is particularly important for entrepreneurs who are trying out new ideas and so must adapt correctly to feedback from the environment. But understanding common mistakes is also useful for identifying possible opportunities in markets; opportunities exist when firms make mistakes and when they fail to learn effective practices. The course will introduce concepts and findings from organization theory, psychology, decision theory, and statistics. Not taught in 2009-10.

OB 385 Leading Social Change: Educational and Social Entrepreneurship

The course provides an overview of different approaches to leading change in the social sector, drawing primarily, but not exclusively, on case examples in education. While there is a substantial need for innovation and visionary leadership in sectors such as education, social entrepreneurs who want to drive change must appreciate the significant barriers and unique opportunities presented by non-market forces in these sectors. The course will equip students with an appreciation for different mechanisms of change and theories of action as well as some of the challenges of initiating and sustaining meaningful change in social sectors such as education.

The course will draw on readings and case studies, and we will benefit from the wisdom of an inspirational group of guest lecturers. While the course will benefit any student concerned with making a positive impact in the world, it is particularly (although not exclusively) appropriate for students in the joint MA/MBA program as well as those who will lead social change through nonprofit consulting or entrepreneurship.

OB 387 Women and Men in Management

The objective of this course is to examine the ways in which gender impacts the work experiences of both men and women. The course focuses on the working experience of men and women in managerial and professional positions in businesses and some non-profit organizations. We will examine a wide variety of career-related gender issues including the effects of proportions of men and women in a job on the experiences of men and women, whether and how men and women's networks differ, the various causes of the gender gap in pay and promotions, and the multiple issues related to juggling the demands of work and family and how this impacts both men and women. The goal of this course is to raise awareness of the reasons for gender differences in the workplace and to suggest some ways to change these differences. This course will use a variety of teaching mechanisms including, but not limited to, business cases, scholarly articles, videos, lectures, and class discussions.

OB 388 Leadership in the Entertainment Industry

The entertainment industry is one of the largest and most important industries in the world. It is an industry characterized by tremendous opportunities and great uncertainties. The industry is currently undergoing tremendous change as new technologies transform the way entertainment is produced and disseminated throughout the world. For all of these reasons, the dynamic industry creates tremendous challenges for entrepreneurial students interested in leaving an artistic or creative imprint on the world. This course is designed to help prepare students for careers in the media industries, and to explore leadership within them. The industry is truly an intersection of art and commerce, and a major portion of the course will involve bringing to the class leaders who represent key areas of the entertainment industry, both on the business and creative sides. As with any business, the entertainment industry is driven by the vision of its leaders. These leaders daily make financial and artistic decisions, and manage staff and productions with the goal of producing entertainment product meant to be seen as widely as possible, and meant to make a profit. It is hoped that through interaction with these speakers, students taking this course will gain a greater understanding of the industry and what it takes to succeed in it. Further, the students will see the potential of strong leadership and how it works to advance entertainment companies and the films and TV programming they produce. Topics to be examined include the process of project development, production, and marketing; emerging technologies and their impact on the industry; the roles studio and network executives, directors, film and television producers, writers, actors, agents, and others play in the making and distribution of film and television productions.

OB 392 Leadership Coaching and Mentoring II

This course is the continuation of a 6 unit course that runs for the Winter and Spring Quarters. Classes/clinics meet 10 times in the spring. It is open to up to 24 MBA2 students who have been selected on the basis of their having passed a screening to assess their potential to coach effectively. They also need to haven taken OB 374 - Interpersonal Dynamics or will take OB 374 in the Autumn or Winter. There will be a reading list. That conceptual material will be supplemented during class time with lectures and discussions. Students will have the opportunity to apply those concepts through role-plays and exercises during class time. Each second-year student will be assigned three first-year students. The second-year coaches will meet with their coaches 5 times each quarter in a series of semi-structured coaching activities.

OB 393 Leadership in Diverse Organizations

This course is designed to help students improve their capacity to exercise leadership and work effectively with others within the context of culturally diverse groups and organizations. The course is based on the premise that diversity can present unique challenges and opportunities and thereby pushes students to develop crucial leadership skills, many of which are relevant across a variety of situations. The class will address two primary questions: 1) What social and psychological obstacles limit people's ability to work effectively across identity-based differences? 2) What can you do to build the relational and organizational capacity to enable these differences to be a resource for learning and effectiveness within teams and organizations? Students should be prepared to experiment with various conceptual and analytic skills inside and outside of the classroom. While the course focuses on dynamics of race and gender, there will be opportunities for students to explore a variety of other dimensions of identity and difference in organizations, including (but not limited to) sexual orientation, nationality, class, and religion. The course is intended for students who expect to work in culturally diverse groups or organizations and will be equally relevant to those who plan to work in the not-for-profit, public, and for-profit sectors. The course is cross listed in the School of Education.

OB 501 Strong Reciprocators and Sharks: Cooperation, Cheating, and Punishment in Groups

In the last decade or so, scholars in behavioral game theory, psychology and evolutionary anthropology have reached some surprisingly convergent conclusions about mixed motive situations (i.e., when people have interests that overlap but aren't identical):

1. Two types of decision makers seem to be present in most groups: egoists, who try to maximize their own payoffs, and strong reciprocators.
2. The latter engage in both altruistic cooperation (rewarding cooperation with cooperation, even when doing so costs money) and altruistic punishment (greedy behavior is punished, even when doing so costs money).
3. It is very hard to sustain cooperation in large groups based only on repeat play (tit for tat) by egoists; the presence of strong reciprocators is needed.
4. Depending on a group's work-technology and its rules of exchange, sometimes the patterns of egoists prevail (strong reciprocators give up) and sometimes those of strong reciprocators prevail (egoists conform to social norms created by strong reciprocators).

It's obvious that these properties have many important managerial implications regarding, for example, incentive systems, team performance, and negotiation. We will probably spend the last session investigating some of these practical implications. The seminar's main focus, however, will be on understanding the phenomena described by 1)-4). This entails reading a diverse literature, i.e., in the fields listed above, as well as some others. Students will be expected to take empirical and theoretical work seriously.

OB 507 Vital Engagements and Passionate Work: Exploring the Origins of Creative Commitment

This seminar will examine what we know about the determinants of vital engagement and its relationship to finding creative and satisfying work. Creativity researchers have characterized the concept of vital engagement in terms of the full use of one's powers applied to personally relevant and deeply satisfying endeavors. Thus defined, vital engagement is one of the hallmarks of many of the world's most admired creators and innovators throughout history, whether they were business innovators, political innovators, or cultural innovators. To be sure, vital engagement sounds like a fuzzy notion. However, it's a serious and important one. It's also an idea worth exploring at a deeper level. And, it turns out there is some good academic literature that allows us to get some traction on the idea!

A primary aim of this MBA seminar, accordingly, is to examine important questions regarding (1) the kinds of work that provide vital engagement in one's life, (2) how individuals find work that is vitally engaging, (3) what are the developmental processes that contribute to successful vital engagement, (4) are there behavioral strategies that increase the chances of finding such engagement?, and (5) what can we learn from the historical study and contemporary examination of lives of vital engagement?

To explore these issues, we'll take an enjoyable and thought-provoking multi-faceted approach to this topic, including traditional academic readings, videotaped material, and reflective writing. I can promise you some lively class discussions of this material!

I am hoping this seminar will attract those GSB students who are looking for fresh and provocative conceptual models for thinking about themselves as potential innovators and the challenges they will face in pursuing their passions--even if those passions take them off the beaten track! In this seminar, we will take a sustained look at effective creators who live with passion, a commitment to personal values, and who strive to make creative contributions to their businesses and to their societies. I am hoping this course will be a refreshing antidote to some of the more conventional business figures examined at the GSB.

OB 509 Managing Diversity

Minorities, women, and immigrants currently make up more than 50% of the United States workforce, and these groups are projected to make up approximately 85% of the workforce within the next ten years. Thus, managers are faced with the task of both recruiting and retaining the most talented employees across a variety of social groups, and effectively leading a diverse workforce. Through the discussion of social psychological research and organizational theory this seminar exposes students to knowledge necessary to navigate these tasks successfully. Among other topics, we will explore how diversity helps organizations to problem solve; how diversity leads to misunderstanding and conflict; and how organizational culture and social identity interactively affect individuals? ability to perform to their potential; and the pros and cons of policies such as affirmative action.

OB 511 Strategic Career Management

The focus of this seminar is on understanding approaches for strategically managing one's career over a lifetime. The seminar will A) introduce students to career decision-making frameworks; B) examine various career traps, roadblocks and "blind spots"; and C) facilitate the development of a personal career vision, frameworks and action plan. The seminar will have guest speakers who are experienced professionals from various careers and industries. It will also include in- and out-of-class exercises for personal reflection and insight. Note: This seminar is not a tactical or skill-building workshop for how to get a job.

OB 521 Corporate Social Responsibility

The role of the corporation in the contemporary world is changing. The set of stakeholders that corporations are expected to engage is increasing as is their responsibility to and for those stakeholders. Increasingly corporations are finding that corporate social responsibility can have a material impact on their business success by expanding business opportunities and managing risks. Among the topics addressed in this case-based course will be: What do responsible companies have a responsibility to do? How should companies manage their relationship with key stakeholders? What are the principle issues around labor and human rights? How responsible should a company be for the practices of its partners, vendors, contractors etc.? What factors should guide a company's philanthropy and community development activities?

OB 534 Family Business - Cases and Frameworks

Family-controlled private and public companies are the dominant form of enterprise worldwide, comprising more than 90% of all businesses. They are currently undergoing intense competitive transition in form and function and more than three trillion dollars of assets will change generational management during the next ten years. This course is designed for those persons who desire to understand the distinct strategies and practices of family-controlled companies and family wealth management. It will focus on shareholder decision-making; financial and market-driven options for long-run competitiveness, organizational structures, and management team issues; transition planning for the corporate entity, family dynamics and communication issues; and leadership empowerment. The course is intended for those who plan to consult or provide professional services to closely-held companies and for those contemplating a career in a family firm. It will present both a theoretical framework for understanding the family form of business organization and a practice perspective on consulting to family firms and/or working as a family member in the family business. Each class will be comprised of two elements: a case-based discussion that explores family business frameworks, and a visitor session in which a family business practitioner describes their own experiences and engages in Q&A with students. This unusual blend of pedagogies is designed to provide students with both the theory and practice of family businesses in an engaging and enriching way.

OB 535 Seminar on Advanced Topics in Family and Closely-Held Companies

While the frameworks used to understand and manage family and closely-held businesses are widely applicable, their implementation can vary dramatically depending upon the circumstances of the business and the idiosyncrasies of the people involved. As is often the case in business, the challenge is the application of the universal to the particular: the challenge of execution. This course is designed to allow a small number of students explore specific family business situations in greater depth, and to learn how to apply the frameworks learned in OB534 to real world problems and opportunities. The starting point for these explorations will be the experiences of the students themselves, supplemented and complemented by the resources and experience of the instructor. Working in small groups, students will work with the instructor to identify specific topics for in-depth analysis and planning, and then document and present the results to their peers for feedback and suggestions. The goal of the class is to give students an appreciation of the depth and complexity that can exist in even "simple" problems in a family business, and preparation for dealing with those problems in a constructive and pro-active fashion.

OB 541 How to Change Things When Change Is Hard

This course will explore case studies and research about how to create behavior change from a position without much formal authority or power: e.g., a middle manager trying to change a failing unit of a big firm or a social entrepreneur trying to influence the behavior of a community. We'll use principles from social psychology, clinical psychology, and behavioral economics to analyze cases like the following: How a new head of the equities research department at Lehman Brothers changed his group's ranking in the Institutional Investor polls from #15 to #1 over a four year period. How Teach for America teachers take unmotivated kids in neglected schools and manage on standardized tests to gain more than two year's progress in one year of schooling. How a clever application of behavioral economics managed to triple employee savings rates.

OB 543 Scaling Change

A problem for every manager is to make 'good' behaviors spread quickly and to shrink 'undesirable' behaviors quickly. This course provides you practical frameworks to accomplish these managerial goals. We will examine issues such as scaling Idea generation, scaling knowledge sharing, scaling the adoption of ideas across firms, scaling change in global firms. We will be using a newly written series of cases for this course and also draw on guest speakers.

OB 552 The Quest for Happiness: Exploring the Psychology of Human Fulfillment

In this seminar, we will explore the nature of human happiness. We will examine recent theories and new evidence from psychological research indicating who among us is likely to achieve deep and enduring happiness-and why. We also will review what we know about the determinants of happiness throughout the lifespan. We will discuss how happiness is created and sustained, even in the face of adversity and tragedy. We will describe the "geography" of happiness, examining different cultural conceptions of happiness and variations in the distribution of happiness around the globe. We will also discuss some prevalent misconceptions regarding the antecedents of human happiness-why so many people, in short, stumble in their quest for happiness. We will explore how leaders can use happiness research to create more satisfying work places. To illustrate these ideas, we will examine in detail a number of fascinating individuals, including Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Oprah Winfrey, venture capitalist Tom Perkins, Steven Spielberg, Martha Stewart, and the Nobel physicist Richard Feynman. Students will also work, either individually or in small self-selected teams, on a case study of an individual or organization they find interesting. There will also be several reflective exercises designed to probe students' self-conceptions regarding their own happiness. This seminar will be very discussion-oriented and our time will be spent engaging in lively, provocative debate of controversial ideas and evidence about happiness.

OB 562 Leadership Learning: The Leadership Development Platform

This course is the Winter Quarter continuation of OB 560. The Leadership Development Platform rests on the fundamental premise that leadership is learned best through the integration of concepts and practice. Students will be exposed to a variety of leadership perspectives through readings, guest lectures, and group discussion. In addition, they will participate in experiential labs designed to provide them with direct experience applying leadership concepts in the context of their own teams and challenges (e.g. building effective teams, managing difficult conversations, giving and receiving feedback). Students will complete several leadership assessment instruments, receive direct feedback from their peers, and be supported through bi-weekly coaching provided by second-year students enrolled in the leadership coaching course. By integrating leadership theory, the lessons of practical application (shared by guest lecturers), and the students' own experience, the LDP aims to develop skills and capabilities essential to leading others, as well as a better understanding of students' own leadership preferences and development goals.

Please note that this course is a two-quarter course that students apply to as admits. If we oversubscribe, we select students through a stratified-random selection process. They must then sign a statement of commitment and submit it to us to be enrolled in the class. The class consists of 8 experiential or speaker labs, interim group assignments, and individual coaching.

OB 563 Leadership Perspectives

What does it mean to be a principled leader? What role do values play in an organization, and how do successful leaders apply their values in their daily business lives? This course examines the concept of principled leadership and the various ways that business leaders try to institutionalize particular values within the organizations they lead. Equally important, it explores the difficult challenges that leaders sometimes face when trying to apply their principles in a tough, fast-paced business environment, where others may not share the same expectations. Through assigned readings, interactive lectures with visiting executives and weekly small group discussions, students will learn how practicing leaders implement their principles, while reflecting the realities of different cultural expectations and meeting business demands. The course will provide a forum for students to learn directly from practicing leaders and to think introspectively about their own personal values, leadership styles, and long-term aspirations.

OB 566 Organization for Strategic Advantage

Management analysts agree that the success of firm's strategy almost always depends on the design of its organization. This course explores issues concerned with designing and changing organizations for strategic advantage. It provides a framework that emphasizes three key elements of an organization: formal architecture, culture, and social networks. Core aspects of each element are scrutinized (as well as their interplay) to assess how they relate to particular firm strategies, and how they shape organizational performance and change in contexts ranging from high-technology to consumer retailing. The course also examines how the three elements create an organization's identity and its consequences for strategic advantage.

Students who have taken OB 266 or OB 366 cannot take OB 566.

OB 571 Diversity, Dynamics, and Influence

The course is based on the premise that diversity can present unique challenges and opportunities thereby compelling students to expand their sensitivity and develop a wider repertoire of skills, many of which are relevant across a variety of situations. The course is intended for students who plan to work in culturally diverse groups or organizations and will be equally relevant to those who work in the not-for-profit, public, and for-profit sectors.

Through the presentation of new concepts, participation in experiential group activities, and faculty facilitated debriefing, students are expect to improve their ability to better assess group level diversity dynamics and in turn both intentionally influence and to be influenced inclusive of three fundamental differences presented by peers - values, gender, and group identity. Students will be taught how to practice 'authentic discourse' during regular faculty facilitated small task group debriefings. 'Authentic discourse' is a skill stressed in Interpersonal Dynamics (OB374).

OB 574 Interpersonal Dynamics at Work

This course is open to students who have taken OB 374 Interpersonal Dynamics or GSBGEN 374 Interpersonal Influence and Leadership. The objectives of OB 574 is to take what was learned in the introductory Interpersonal Dynamics course further with a specific emphasis on how those approaches are applicable in a work setting. Specifically how issues of fuller self-expression/disclosure, feedback, resolution of interpersonal difficulties and building effective relationships can apply to working with peers and one's manager as well as in a team setting.

OB 581 Negotiations

This course is designed to improve students' skills in all phases of a negotiation: understanding prescriptive and descriptive negotiation theory as it applies to dyadic and multiparty negotiations, to buyer-seller transactions and the resolution of disputes, to the development of negotiation strategy and to the management of integrative and distributive aspects of the negotiation process. The course is based on a series of simulated negotiations in a variety of contexts including one-on-one, multi-party, and team negotiations. When playing a role in a simulated conflict, you will be free to try out tactics that might feel uncomfortable in a real one. You will get feedback from your classmates about how you come across. You will have an opportunity to reflect on your experience in your negotiation paper. In sum, you can use this course to expand your repertoire of conflict management and negotiation skills, to hone your skills, and to become more adept in choosing when to apply each skill.

This course represents a shorter, more intense version of OB 381-Conflict Management and Negotiations. Students should not take both courses, as there is considerable overlap in course content. Attendance and participation in the negotiation exercises is mandatory.

OB 582 Leading Social Change: Educational and Social Entrepreneurship

The course provides an overview of different approaches to change, drawing primarily on entrepreneurial initiatives in education. The course will equip students with an appreciation for different mechanisms of change as well as some of the challenges of initiating and sustaining change in social sectors such as education.

The course will draw on readings and case studies, and we will benefit from the wisdom of an inspirational group of guest lecturers. While the course will benefit any student concerned with making a positive impact, it is particularly appropriate for students in the joint MA/MBA program as well as those who will lead social change through nonprofit consulting or entrepreneurship.

OB 584 Creativity in Problem Solving and Negotiating

In teaching negotiation over the last decade, it has become clear to me that the creativity of the players can significantly affect both the processes and the outcomes of negotiation. Sometimes students see a novel approach that allows them to reach a collectively optimal deal; at other times they get locked into mindsets that generate lose-lose (collectively suboptimal) outcomes. In this seminar we will examine how and why creative problem-solving and negotiating occurs. The course will first draw on what is known about creative problem-solving in single-person contexts. (More research has been done on creativity in these contexts than in multi-person settings. Further, creative problem-solving in negotiations probably draws on mental processes that are active in nonstrategic situations as well. For these reasons it makes sense to start off by studying individual creativity.) We will then turn to creativity in teams, (i.e., multi-person situations in which there is little conflict of interest.) Finally, we will turn our attention to the main topic, creativity in negotiations and other situations that involve substantial conflict. In all three contexts we will examine the important tension between generating new ideas and evaluating them. (Because most new ideas turn out to have significant practical drawbacks, effective problem-solving requires probing evaluations; creativity alone is insufficient.) Although the main focus will be on examining what is known about creativity (i.e., what scientific research has discovered), I also plan to use some in-class exercises.

OB 586 Organizational Learning

This is a course about how firms learn from their experiences and the opportunities created by flawed learning. It will explore common mistakes in learning and barriers to the adoption of effective practices. Understanding learning problems will help future managers avoid common mistakes and build organizations that learn more effectively; learning is particularly important for entrepreneurs who are trying out new ideas and so must adapt correctly to feedback from the environment. But understanding common mistakes is also useful for identifying possible opportunities in markets; opportunities exist when firms make mistakes and when they fail to learn effective practices. The course will introduce concepts and findings from organization theory, psychology, decision theory, and statistics. A variety of exercises, cases, and readings will be used to illustrate barriers to learning and the opportunities they create, including the book "Moneyball" by Michael Lewis which discusses market-level mistakes in professional baseball.

OB 591 Advanced Negotiation

This course is designed for individuals who have taken one of the basic negotiation courses (OB 381 or OB 581) and are interested in honing their negotiation and conflict management skills and expanding their knowledge about bargaining and dispute resolution.

To dig deeper into the minds of negotiators, we will use analyses of in-class exercises and in-depth discussions of new and exciting research findings. Thus, we will play strategic games and negotiate in all our meetings, but we will also read and discuss theory and research on bargaining. So, if you enjoy negotiating, you will enjoy the classes. At the same time, if you enjoy analyzing human behavior and social interactions, you will like the reading and our discussions.

We will start off the class by launching a week-long entrepreneurial negotiation assignment that will allow you to test your bargaining skills outside of class. Our in-class exercises and in-depth discussions will subsequently tackle critical issues in negotiation, including the role of emotions in negotiation; accountability, information processing, and creativity in negotiation; team negotiation; agency problems in negotiation; relational aspects of negotiation; and the role of culture and ideology in negotiation.

After taking this course, you will: (a) be better able to identify and avoid common traps in negotiation; (b) have a larger repertoire of behavioral skills to apply in various negotiations; and (c) have a deeper understanding of other people's behavior in negotiation.

OB 593 Leadership in Diverse Organizations

This course is designed to help students improve their capacity to exercise leadership and work effectively with others within the context of culturally diverse groups and organizations. The course is based on the premise that diversity can present unique challenges and opportunities and thereby pushes students to develop crucial leadership skills, many of which are relevant across a variety of situations. The class will address two primary questions: 1) What social and psychological obstacles limit people's ability to work effectively across identity-based differences? 2) What can you do to create contexts that enable differences to be used as a resource for learning and effectiveness within teams and organizations? Students should be prepared to experiment with various conceptual and analytic skills inside and outside of the classroom. While the course focuses on dynamics of race and gender, there will be opportunities for students to explore a variety of other dimensions of identity and difference in organizations, including (but not limited to) sexual orientation, nationality, class, and religion. The course is intended for students who expect to work in culturally diverse groups or organizations and will be equally relevant to those who plan to work in the not-for-profit, public, and for-profit sectors. The course is cross listed in the School of Education.