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