Management & Strategy Classes

>> General Management Program

This seminar is about managing and thriving in organizations. It is based on the premise that management success requires (a) understanding how to manage organizations and (b) understanding how to manage people. 

In the first part of the seminar, we will focus on understanding the relationship between an organization and its environment. What are the demands that organizations face in seeking to grow and thrive? What happens when the external environment changes (i.e., due to changes in technology, governmental regulations, or customer tastes)?  What are the implications of an organization’s strategy for how it is designed?  How does growth affect an organization? In this part of the seminar, we will learn about the “hardware” of organizations: structure and design.  

In the middle portion of the seminar, we will learn about the “software” of organizations: culture, leadership, power and politics. What is culture, and how do you affect it? What influences the power dynamics within an organization? What role do control systems play? How do you manage change?  

The third section focuses on sharpening participants’ interpersonal skills as managers. To do this, we will learn and apply frameworks on how to manage work groups, facilitate group decision-making, resolve conflict, evaluate performance and motivate effort. Our premise here is that day-to-day business success requires being able to understand and manage social interactions.  

At the end of the seminar, participants should have a deeper and more complex understanding of organizational dynamics and the essential elements of managing organizations and the people within them.  Participants will leave this seminar more knowledgeable about how organizations work and how to be an effective manager.