MB 709 Spring 2004 Schedule

Legend

Assignments are due on the day they are listed (except for the very first class -- those readings should be read immediately after class). All items subject to change without notice. Please check the schedule frequently. Before printing articles, try reading them online. Is all that ink and toner really necessary?

Most of the links for journal articles require you to be logged in via your BC id in order to recognize you as legitimate members of the community. Click here for more infromation. The notation "B&B" is used to refer to the Bowditch and Buono text book. For example, "B&B 1,9" refers to chapters 1 and 9 of that book. LP refers to Liars Poker, by Michael Lewis.

Readings marked [HBSP] must be purchased from Harvard by clicking on the link or visiting www.hbsp.com/relay.jhtml?name=cp&c=c39043. To read, you must download the SealedMedia reader from Harvard site.

Shortcuts

  1. Jan 20 - Introduction
  2. Jan 27 - Informal Organization
  3. Feb 03 - Power
  4. Feb 10 - Power in Complex Orgs
  5. Feb 17 - Leadership
  6. Feb 24 - Making Better Decisions
  7. Mar 09 - Knowledge Management
  8. Mar 16 - Creativity and Innovation
  9. Mar 23 - Managing Human Resources
  10. Mar 30 - Managing Your Bosses
  11. Apr 13 - Organizational Culture
  12. Apr 20 - Corporate Governance
  13. Apr 27 - Putting it all Together
  14. May 04 - Presentations

 

20 Jan.  Introduction
Topics:
  • Welcome
  • The WIS game
  • Why do organizations exist?
  • Overview of organizational theory
  • Formal & informal organization
  • Theoretical lenses
Reading:
  • B&B Ch. 1,9
  • Coordination [html]
  • Departmentation [html]
  • Structure [html]
Optional:  

 

27 Jan.  The Informal Organization
Topics:
  • Western Electric Hawthorne studies
  • The mystery of groups
  • Human and social capital
  • Social networks
Reading:
  • B&B 5
  • Krackhardt, D. & Hanson, J. 1993. Informal networks: the company behind the chart. Harvard Business Review. [Ebsco]
  • Krebs. Managing the connected organization. [html]
  • Cross, R., Borgatti, S.P. & Parker, A., 2002. Making Invisible Work Visible: Using Social Network Analysis to Support Strategic Collaboration. California Management Review. 44(2): 25-46. [PDF]
  • Krackhardt, David. 1992 "The Strength of Strong Ties: The Importance of Philos in Organizations." In N. Nohria & R. Eccles (eds.), Networks and Organizations: Structure, Form, and Action: 216-239. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press. [pdf] (focus on the unionization drive)
  • Capturing Saddam (skim for social network aspect)
  • Hawthorne experiments [html]
Presentation:
Homework:
Optional:

 

3 Feb.  Power

 
Topics:
  • Networks & power
  • Authority & power
  • Conflict as a result of power use
Reading:
  • B&B 7
  • Kotter. Power, dependence and effective management [HBSP].
  • Ware & Barnes. Managing interpersonal conflict [HBSP]
  • Notes on Emerson's dependency theory. [html]
  • LP preface + ch. 1
Presentation:
Case:
Due:
Optional:
  • Pfeffer, J. 1992. Managing with Power. Cambridge: HBS Press. Ch. 1-2.

 

10 Feb.  Power in Complex Organizations
Topics:
  • Aggressive Corp or Comparative Advertising simulation
  • Power at higher levels -- the boardroom and outside the organization
  • International culture issues
Reading:
  • B&B 8
  • Hill. Exercising influence. [HBSP]
  • LP 2
Case:
Due:
Optional:
  • Machiavelli, N. 1505. The Prince. Columbia. [full text]

 

17 Feb.  Leadership
Topics:
  • Mobilizing resources (especially people) to make things happen
  • Leadership and change / agency
  • Distinguishing leadership and power, leaders and managers
  • Comparing military leadership with corporate leadership
Reading:
  • B&B 3
  • Kotter. What leaders really do. [HBSP]
  • Finegan, Jay. 1987 (Jan). Four star management. Inc. magazine. [PDF],[text-only]
  • LP 3 
Presentation:
Case:
Due:
Optional:
  • Creech and TQM
  • Brass, D.J. & Krackhardt, D. 1999. The social capital of 21st century leaders. In J.G. Hunt, G.E. Dodge, & L. Wong (Eds.), Out-of-the-box leadership, 179-194. Stamford, CT: JAI Press. [pdf]
  • Krackhardt.  Viscosity models and the diffusion of innovation. [PDF]

 

24 Feb.  Making Better Decisions
Topics:
  • Rational versus real decision-making
  • How should rational decisions be made, as opposed to how they are often made
  • The effects of history and structure on decisions
  • Perceptual biases
Reading:
  • Northcraft and Neale. Decision Making. [PDF]. Note: It's a poor quality scan. will hand out paper copies in class.
  • LP 4
  • B&B 2
  • Krackhardt, D. & Stern, R.1988. Informal networks and organizational crises. Social Psychology Quarterly 51(2): 123-140.  [PDF] {skim}
Presentation:
Case:
Due:
Optional:  

 

2 Mar.  Spring Vacation
Topics:
  • No class
Reading:
  • LP 5
Due:
  • Case Survey -- please complete by Wednesday night (March 3rd) at midnight
  • Course Survey -- not available yet
Optional:  

 

9 Mar.  Knowledge Management
Topics:
  • Transactive memory
  • Information flows
  • Communities of practice
Reading:
  • Borgatti, S.P. and Cross, R. 2003. A Relational View of Information Seeking and Learning in Social Networks. Management Science. 49(4): 432-445.[pdf]
  • Granovetter, M. (1973), "The Strength of Weak Ties," American Journal of Sociology, 78 (6): 1360-1380 [jstor]
  • McGrath & Krackhardt. 2004. Network conditions for organizational change. Journal of Applied Behavioral Science. [PDF] 
  • LP 6
Presentation:
Optional:

  • Wenger. Communities of Practice 1998. Claims Processing Vignette. [html]

  • Wegner, D., Giuliano, T., & Hertel, P. (1985).  Cognitive Interdependence in Close Relationships. In W. Ickes (Ed.) Compatible and Incompatible Relationships pp. 253-276 New York, NY: Springer-Verlag.

  • Moreland, R. 1999. Transactive memory: Learning who knows what in work groups and organizations. Pp. 3-31 in Thompson, Levine & Messick, Shared Cognition in Organizations: The management of knowledge. Lawrence Erlbaum.

 

16 Mar.  Creativity & Innovation
Guest:
Topics:
  • Network structures that promote innovation
  • Individual creativity
Reading:
  • Burt, R. 2003. The social origin of ideas. [PDF]
  • J.G. March, Explorations and Exploitation in organizational learning, Organization Science, 2, 1991. [EBSCO - must log in from bc or via vpn]
  • Powell,W.W.,Koput, K.W.,&Smith-Doerr,L. 1996. Interorganizational collaboration and the locus of innovation: Networks of learning in biotechnology. Administrative Science Quarterly, 41(1): 116–145. [link to pdf - requires bc login]
  • LP 7
Presentation:
Optional:
  • Amabile, T. 1998.  How to kill creativity.  [HBSP]
Case:
  • None

 

23 Mar.  Managing Human Resources
Guest:
Topics:
  • Developing healthy and productive employees
  • Work/life issues
  • What aspects of personnel systems are likely to hinder commitment and productivity in organizations?
  • Developing social capital
  • Gender issues 
  • Performance appraisals
Reading:
  • Friedman, Christensen, and DeGroot. 1998. Work and Life: The End of the Zero-Sum Game. Harvard Business Review. [HBSP]
  • Beer. Conducting a performance appraisal interview. [HBSP]
  • Williams. Performance appraisal is dead -- Long live performance management. [HBSP]
  • LP 8
Presentation:
Cases:
Due:
Optional:
  • Tannen, D. Talking 9 to 5.
  • Kerr, 1995. On the folly of rewarding A while hoping for B. Academy of Management Executive. 9(1). [html]
  • Borgatti & Molina. 2003.  Ethical and Strategic Issues in Organizational Social Network Analysis. Journal of Applied Behavioral Science.39(3)  [PDF]

 

30 Mar.  Managing Your Bosses
Guest:
  • Pacey Foster, Ph.D. Candidate, Carroll School of Management
Topics:
  • Self-inquiry & inquiry into mental models of others
  • Focus on followers
  • Teams with multiple leaders
Reading:
Presentation:
Case:
Due:
Optional:  

 

6 Apr.  Easter Break
Topics:
  • No class but we do have team representative meeting at 5:45 pm in Fulton 430.
Reading:
  • LP 10
Due:
Optional:  

 

13 Apr.  Organizational Culture
Topics:
  • There will be a 15-minute advertisement for a Leadership for Change course
  • Culture, climate & identity
  • Consequences of cultures; role of culture
  • Link to communities of practice
Reading:
  • B&B 4,10
  • LP 11+Epilogue
  • Christensen. What is an organization's culture? [HBSP]
Case:
  • Van Maanen, J. 1990. The smile factory: work at Disneyland. In P. J. Frost, L. F. Moore, M. Louis, C. Lundberg, & J. Martin (Eds.), Reframing Organizational Culture: 55-76. Sage Publications. [ description ].
  • Liar's Poker
Presentation:
  • Organizational Culture
Due:
Optional:

 

20 Apr.  Corporate Governance
Topics:
  • Reprise of 'why do organizations exist?'
Reading:
  • Friedman, M. The social responsibility of business is to increase its profits. [full text]
  • Goizueta. 1996. The real essence of business. [full text]
  • Uzzi, 1996.The sources and consequences of embeddedness... American Sociological Review. [PDF]  Concentrate on the anecdotes (pp. 679-682), definitely skip anything after pg 685.
Case:
Due:
Optional:
  • Blair, Margaret M. 1998. “Whose Interests Should Corporations Serve?” Pp. 47-69 in The Corporation and Its Stakeholders: Classic and Contemporary Readings, edited by Max B.E. Clarkson. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. Or ...
  • Blair, Margaret M. 1995. Whose Interests Should Corporations Serve?" in Ownership and Control: Rethinking Corporate Governance for the Twentieth-First Century (Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution).
  • The Malden Mills story

 

27 Apr.  Putting it all Together
Topics:
Reading:
  • Review entire course
Presentation:
Due:
Optional:  

 

4 May.  Presentations
Agenda:
  • Important note:  This class will run late! Plan on 7pm - 10:15 pm.
  • In-class project presentations by teams. Each presentation will be 20 minutes long plus 5 minutes for questions.
Optional:  

Team Project reports are due by noon May 6th via email.