printer friendly pageOB 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. nnnThis 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.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3
OB 374: Interpersonal Dynamics
PRE-QUALIFICATION IS REQUIRED BY THE DEADLINE (APPROXIMATELY TWO WEEKS BEFORE THE QUARTER BEGINS). 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. Attendance to the first class is required for the 1-day/week section of this class. Attendance to the first three classes is required for the 2-day/week sections of this class. Failure to attend the first class will result in an automatic drop. Students who are waitlisted must attend either a 1-day/week class or the first two classes of a 2-day/week section to secure a place in the course should space open up. It is the student's responsibility to notify respective
OB 374 faculty if your attendance is aimed at fulfilling your waitlist requirement. You also need to inform the faculty member for which specific section you are waitlisted. T-group meetings for all sections will meet for 3 hours the same evening as 1-day/week class and the same evening of the first day of the 2-day/week section. 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
https://sites.google.com/a/stanford.edu/ob374-prequalification/.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr
| Units: 5
Instructors:
Bristol, S. (PI)
;
Corney, A. (PI)
;
Dexter, G. (PI)
;
Francisco, R. (PI)
;
Robin, C. (PI)
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. nnnBut 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.nnnTo 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. 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.
Terms: Win, Spr
| Units: 3
Instructors:
Bendor, J. (PI)
;
Halevy, N. (PI)
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, science, social activism, 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 Robert F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King and Margaret Thatcher; business leaders such as Bill and Melinda Gates, Whole Foods CEO John Mackey, and Starbuck's Howard Schultz (to name just a few). We will use these examples to develop useful ideas about the narrative unfolding of creative and extra-ordinary lives. In addition, 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 the perception of meaning in one's life. You will have a chance to 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, including writing and public speaking 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!
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3
Instructors:
Kramer, R. (PI)
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.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3
Instructors:
Guttentag, B. (PI)
OB 522: Managing Social Networks in Organizations
This course is designed to improve your effectiveness 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.
Terms: Win, Spr
| Units: 2
Instructors:
Hasan, S. (PI)
OB 537: Advanced Topics in Teams
This course offers a deeper examination of team dynamics than was provided in Groups and Teams. The course goal is to provide you with tips and tools to maximize the performance of your teams at work. Topics include forming start-up teams, capitalizing on diversity in teams, managing virtual teamwork, facilitating effective discussion and debate in creative teams, and navigating informal leadership processes within top management teams. Group exercises and cases will help you learn how to create and maintain highly effective teams.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 2
Instructors:
Greer, L. (PI)
OB 569: Strategy and Management in Developing Economies
This course will explore the strategic and managerial challenges involved in running for-profit companies in developing economies. Particular emphasis will be given to understanding the challenges of running enterprises that touch the lives of the poor or the extreme poor, either by employing them or producing goods and services that improve their lives. A central theme will be the ways in which features of these economies shape the ability of firms to thrive and grow. Among the issues that may be considered are how the economic and social context affects the ability of firms to formulate successful strategies for creating and capturing value and how the context impacts the process of management within the organization.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 2
Instructors:
Sorensen, J. (PI)
;
Hassan, Z. (SI)
OB 622: Topics in Social Network Analysis: Structure and Dynamics
This course provides coverage of both introductory and intermediate topics in social network analysis with a primary focus on recent developments in theory, methods and substantive applications. We will begin the course with a brief overview of introductory themes and concepts from various disciplines that have contributed to social network theory, including sociology, anthropology, social psychology, and organizations. Introductory topics to be included: centrality, cliques, structural and regular equivalence and cognitive social structures. The primary topics to be covered in this course include the application of network theory to the study of careers, competition, innovation, inequality/stratification, and recent research on IT mediated networks, as well as an examination of network formation and dynamics. The course will also provide hands-on experience applying social network methods in empirical research. Students will have an opportunity to learn some modern network analysis methods and apply them to network data using the R programming language. No prior experience with social network analysis or software is required.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 2
Instructors:
Hasan, S. (PI)
OB 623: Stratification in Organizations
Racial and sexual segregation within firms and other organizations is persistently decried as a social problem. Yet there is persistent scholarly debate about the causes, effects, and remedies for such segregation. Over five weeks this course will review several dominant economic, psychological and sociological theories of organizational stratification. We will explore how organizational scholars identify stratification as arising both from individual-level biases and from organizational policies that enable and reinforce actions stemming from those biases. The focus will be on research that has tried to identify policy interventions to reduce such stratification. nn
Terms: Spr
| Units: 2
Instructors:
Ferguson, J. (PI)
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