17-88-603-01
Organizational Environment
Wednesday,
Instructors:
Dr.
“J” Cherrington Dr. Miriam Porter
Office:
104 Morris Hall Office:
222K Morris Hall
Phone/Voice Mail:
507-389-5031 Office
Phone: 389-5032
Office Hours: see . email: miriam.porter@mnsu.edu
http://www.intech.mnsu.edu/cherrington/OfficeHours.htm
email: janet.cherrington@mnsu.edu Office
Hours: MWF 11-12
W
& F
Required Texts: Reframing Organizations: Artistry, Choice
and Leadership, Bohlman, Lee G. and Terrence E. Deal, Jossey Bass
Publishers, 2nd Edition, 1997.
Case
studies TBA
Recommended
Reserve
Readings/Cases: Located
in URSI office in “603” mailbox.
Note: If you remove these, please
do not take out for more than two hours.
Course Purpose: Interaction between the organization and its
environment underline several important distinctions between private and public
sectors. For example, private sectors
objectives are often clearer and less likely to generate conflict. However, the environment of public
organizations includes political, legal, economic, and social elements, which
are elusive forces that are not easily identifiable or measurable. Consequently public sector managers and,
particularly those in local government, have less authority, less flexibility,
and less decision-making power than their corporate counterparts. This leads to the question of how local
government managers and planners can become more responsive, accountable,
innovative, and efficient. The purpose of this course is to explore
organizational theories and adaptive strategies in both the public and private
sectors in order to assist local government managers and planners in becoming
leaders and change agents in their public-sector environment.
Personal Skill Development Goals: In addition to the specific course outcomes,
there are 4 additional goals that are most common to all other URSI graduate
courses at MSU. They are:
·
to develop your creative and critical thinking powers in addressing
problems and opportunities.
·
to develop your personal communication skills, both written and oral.
·
to improve your ability to work and interact with others in a team
approach.
·
to improve your understanding and use of technology.
Instructional Methodology & Teaching Strategies: A variety of techniques will be used
throughout the semester including small group discussions, lecture, guest
speakers, and student presentations. Local
government practitioner guest speakers, coupled with case study analysis, will
provide a comprehensive approach for developing the skills to understand
organizational environments. My teaching style in this course is based on an
“adult centered” model wherein students are active participants responsible for
their own learning. I act as a
facilitator and a resource to engage you in a meaningful academic
experience.
Instructor Policies:
All written assignments must be prepared in duplicate
and typewritten. One copy should be submitted at the start of class, the other
should remain with you to refer to during class discussion. Staple multiple
pages together and consecutively number them.
Each page should have your name,
section no., assignment description, and date submitted in the upper
right corner. Keep your returned graded
copy until completion of the course.
Late Assignments will not be accepted
(unless prior arrangements have been made with the instructor). If the latter does occur, you may still be
subject to a significant point reduction.
Should an emergency arise, email your written assignment (to my email
address on page 1 before the start of class) to receive
credit. Note: Any email attachments must be in PC (not
Macintosh) platform.
Course Requirements: Students will be expected
to have read, thought about, and prepared the assigned materials and case
studies. You will be expected to engage
in class discussion (to ask questions as well as to answer them) and to work in
teams or groups to develop organizational framing skills. Just as it is hard to learn to play tennis by
only reading a book about the sport, it is hard to become a skilled reframer by
sitting back, casually reading the text, and hoping that all will fall in place. Instead students need to work closely with
one another in discussing and grappling with the subtle features of
organizational reframing. Therefore,
class attendance and participation are critical. In order to build your issue framing skills,
student teams will be asked to prepare a PowerPoint presentation and lead a
class discussion on a section of the text(s) or a case study.
Class
Participation/Attendance
Students are expected to
actively participate and contribute positively to the learning process, both in
and out of class. This course uses a
building blocks approach to crafting solutions to reframing organizations
through artistry, choice, and leadership.
Because case studies introduced in each class form the foundation of
this approach it is imperative that students attend class sessions. Points will be given (or deducted) for
attendance. Absent students are
responsible to obtain notes/journal questions from a classmate.
American Disabilities Act (
Other Policies: When cell phones and beepers go off in class
they are very distracting to others.
Please turn off your cell phones and beepers during class time or if
possible put them on vibration mode.
Thank you.
Course Grading:
Part I: Part
II:
Mid-term 20 Final 15
Exercises: Leadership 20 Case
studies 20
Attendance/Participation 10 Attend/Part/Journals
15
50 50 Total 100
Projects -
Part I
Leadership Project:
Students will use an issue action framing tool called the “Action Wheel”
to study organizational issues and improve the students overall understanding
of key issues. A written report and
presentation of the students work culminates the project.
Participation:
Students are asked to initiate discussion on assigned readings by
highlighting issues the student finds important or identifying key questions
for class discussion.
Part II:
Case Studies: We will use the case study approach to discuss and apply organizational theory. Individual responses to cases will consist of reading cases, reflecting in a journal, and bringing this journal to class for further discussion. The journal may be either neatly printed or typed and inserted into a bound 8-/12 x 11 spiral notebook.
Peer Groups/Teams: At the beginning of Part II, students will randomly generate peer groups of 4 or more members per group. This group will become your Permanent Peer Group. The Permanent Peer Groups will
· work on all assignments (except the final) together
· become an integrated and coherent resource
· discuss readings/cases
· present a case study to the class with Ppt. and a written analysis in memo format to the instructor
See instructor for weekly schedule.
.
Case name/#________
PGroup _____________
(student should
fill-in & present this form to instructor before beginning presentation)
attach a copy of PPt outline & your typed
case study analysis
Case Study Research Evaluation-URSI 603
Max. Pts. PPT. ___/10 Written: _____10
___ PPt. forwarded to
instructor prior to class and on time.
___ PPt. incorporated graphics, photos or
illustrations to promote interest
(please no sound effects)
___ Ability of presenter to
frame case study issues and relate real-world examples to readings.
___ Ability of presenter to
use reframing (or if applicable SDI) concepts.
___ Facilitator skills to
lead class in discussion
___ Ability to engage the
class in argument and alternative points of view on the readings and case
studies.
Questions I intend to pose
to the class to stimulate discussion are:
1.
2.
3.
4.