MS&E 280 Course Outline            [printer friendly verson ]

ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR: AN EVIDENCE-BASED APPROACH

Department of Management Science and Engineering Management
Stanford University

Professor Robert I. Sutton (bobsut@stanford.edu)
Office hours: Fridays 3:00-4:00

Course Assistants:
Ralph Maurer, Ph.D Candidate (rmaurer@stanford.edu)
Carlos Rodriguez-Lluesma, Ph.D Candidate (clluesma@stanford.edu)
Dana Wang, Ph.D Candidate (dxwang@stanford.edu)
CA office hours by appointment

Winter, 2006
WF 4:15-5:45
Terman Auditorium
 

Class Description

Evidence-based management is a simple idea. It just means finding the best evidence that you can, facing those facts, and acting on those facts – rather than doing what everyone else does, what you have always done, or what you thought was true. It isn’t an excuse for inaction. Leaders of organizations must have the courage to act on the best facts they have right now, and the humility to change what they do as better information is found. It isn’t a new idea and isn’t an original idea. Yet surprisingly few leaders and organizations actually do it – and those that do trump the competition. The goal of this class is to tackle fundamental organizational behavior issues (e.g. employee selection, rewards, teamwork, culture, innovation) from an evidence-based perspective. 

Books/Materials

Jeffery Pfeffer and Robert I. Sutton, Hard Facts, Dangerous Half-Truths And Total Nonsense: Profiting From Evidence-Based Management. Harvard Business School Press, 2006

Robert B. Cialdini, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion. Collins. 1998
NOTE: there are different versions of this book around, so long as Cialdini wrote the one you have, any variation is fine.

William C. Taylor and Polly G. LaBarre, Mavericks at Work: Why the Most Original Minds in Business Win. William Morrow, 2006

(DVD) Metallica - Some Kind of Monster. Third Eye Motion Picture Company, 2004

Most of the articles can be found by simply clicking on the URL provided. For Harvard cases and some Stanford cases, you can go to www.hbsp.com to purchase them. We have set up a course list on the HBSP site that will give you a substantial discount (50%) on the materials. Use the link below to order the course materials.

http://harvardbusinessonline.hbsp.harvard.edu/relay.jhtml?name=cp&c=c09040

If you have not registered with Harvard Business Online, you will be required to do so. The downloaded course materials are encrypted using SealedMedia software (http://download.sealedmedia.com/unsealer/index.asp).


Websites

We will be using Stanford’s Coursework system for distribution of updated syllabi and other course materials. You should log in to coursework and make sure you are able to access the class (MSANDE 280) as soon as possible. You can add yourself manually to the course if you are not automatically granted access. Always look on Coursework for updates.

coursework.stanford.edu

We will also be using a Google group as a forum for class discussion and questions. This can be accessed through Coursework or by using this link.

Much of the material for the course in particular and about evidence-based management in general will be available at this website, which Jeff Pfeffer, Bob Sutton, Ralph Maurer, and a team at the Stanford Business School Library led by Daphne Chang and Paul Reist have developed. The most recent version of this course outline will be available here, links to many of the papers assigned, articles that may inspire you, and a blog you can read or comment on.

www.evidence-basedmanagement.com

In addition, Bob Sutton has a blog called Work Matters that contains additional material about topics that are pertinent to the course.

www.bobsutton.net

Grading

Grading for on and off-campus students is the same except for the cold calling requirement described below. Off-campus (SCPD) students are welcome to attend lectures (assuming there are empty seats), however on-campus students may not use the SCPD site as a substitute for coming to class.

1. Brief written assignments (30% of final grade)

Four times during the term, a 500 word written assignment (no longer) will be due at the start of the classes. These assignments will be standard letter grades. Except in the case of extreme circumstances (note that a job interview, business trip, or competing deadline at work or school is not an extreme circumstance), no late papers will be accepted. Please include a word count at the end of each paper to demonstrate that it adheres to the 350 to 500 word limit. Longer assignments will not be accepted. These assignments will constitute 35% of your grade for the course.

Assignments must be handed in paper form at the start of class on the day it is due. I want to emphasize that the start of class means the start of class. You can’t write it in class, you can’t send an e-mail attachment by the start of class unless you are an SCPD student. I mean that you – or another human being – need(s) to hand the printed and completed assignment in to a member of the teaching staff when class begins. SCPD students should email their assignments to 280scpd@gmail.com by the beginning of class (4:15pm PST).

Also, to give you a big hint about how to survive these assignments, please look at the content of the question closely before answering it. In particular, on all assignments, our requirement is that you will weave course concepts (not just the stories and cases presented in the class to illustrate the concepts) into your answer. Please remember to answer the question.

2. Midterm (30% of final grade)

A written, take-home midterm will be due at the beginning of class on February 16th. The midterm will constitute 25% of your grade and consists of an essay of no more than 1200 words. The Question: Watch the behind-the-music documentary "Metallica: Some Kind of Monster" (2004). Use course material to analyze the sources of effectiveness and ineffectiveness in this group, to evaluate the interventions made by the therapist, and make suggestions for improving the effectiveness of the group.

3. Final (40% of final grade)

A written, take-home final is due at the start of the last day of class. The final will constitute 40% of your final grade and consists of an essay of no more than 2000 words. I will make it easy for you by giving you the final exam question now. The question is:

"Design the ideal organization. Use course concepts to defend your answer. "


4. Class participation

Professor Sutton and guest lecturers will be “cold calling”. This means that students are not only expected to have prepared for each class session, but that they may be called on to answer a question or respond to part of the lecture. If it becomes obvious that a student is either poorly prepared or absent on a regular basis their grade will be negatively affected.
 

Schedule

January 10th - Class 1: Introduction and Logistics

January 12th - Class 2: An Introduction to Evidence-based Management

Reading:

Chapter 1: Hard Facts

"From Demoralization to Living Community: The DaVita Story (1:22 hour)", Stanford Business School interview with Kent Thiry.

Chairman and CEO Kent Thiry heads DaVita, the largest independent provider in the United States of dialysis services to people with chronic kidney failure. Five years ago it was being investigated by the SEC and sued by shareholders. Today its market capitalization is $3 billion and it is a leader in its field, a fact Thiry attributes to building community and shared values.

Jensen, A., “Why the Best Technology for Escaping from a Submarine is No Technology,” American Heritage of Invention and Technology (Summer 1968): 44-49

ASSIGNMENT #1 DUE
Provide an example not from the reading (or www.evidence-basedmanagement.com) where evidence-based management would improve decision-making.
 

January 17th - Class 3: Ways of Learning About Organizations

Reading:

Chapter 2: Hard Facts

Ethnography - "Bill’s Excellent Adventure"

Participant Observation - "One of Us"

Statistics – "Five Guidelines for Using Statistics"

Data Mining – "Data Mining: The X-Box Files"
 

January 19th - Class 4: Evidence-Based Management at eBay

Guest: Michael Dearing, Stanford d.school (tentative)
 

January 24th: Class 5: Leadership

Film of various leaders

Reading:

Chapter 8: Hard Facts

Mintzberg, H. "The Manager’s Job: Folklore and Fact" Harvard Business Review, March/April 1990 (full-text online access available to Stanford users only)

Forbes.com - "PeterDrucker on Leadership"

J. Collins – "The Misguided Mix-Up of Celebrity and Leadership"

Stanford Business School – "Ann Mulcahy" Read story and see video.
 

January 26th - Class 6: Employee Selection and Socialization

Reading:

Chapter 4: Hard Facts

Gladwell, M. "Personality Plus"

Moneyball – "Pay for Performance, Stupid"

Boris Groysberg, Ashish Nanda, and Nitin Nohria, "The Risky Business of Hiring Stars" Harvard Business Review, May 2004. (full-text online access available to Stanford users only)

ASSIGNMENT #2 DUE
If you were appointed as the chairperson of the search committee for the CEO of a Fortune 500 company, how would you go about selecting a new CEO? Remember, use course concepts and reading – especially evidence – to defend your answer.
 

January 31st - Class 7: Rewards and Motivation

The power of rewards, self-fulfilling prophecy, and similarity-attraction to
motivate human behavior.

Reading:

Chapter 5, Hard Facts

Kerr, Steve. "On the Folly of Rewarding A, While Hoping for B" Academy of Management Executive, 9(1):7-14, 1995

Hasso Platner’s Incentive Plan for SAP

Pfeffer, J. "Management tips from Opus Dei" Business 2.0
 

February 2nd - Class 8: An Introduction to Groups in Organizations

Reading:

Griffen, Em, "The Groupthink of Irving Janis"

Hill, L. "Managing Your Team" Harvard Business School Press Teaching Note, March 1994. Purchase at:  HBSP online course materials (see notes at beginning of syllabus) 

Sutton, R.I. “Why Innovation Happens When Happy People Fight” Ivey Business Journal, 2002.
 

February 7th - Class 9: Group Brainstorming/Decision-making Exercise

Reading:

Read Cialdini (start reading)

Sutton on Brainstorming in BusinessWeek
 

February 9th : Class 10: Interpersonal Influence

Discussion of Cialdini’s Influence

Film:

"The Life Magazine Ploy" from "Tin Men"

Reading:

Cialdini, R. Influence (entire book)

Gladwell, M. "The Naked Face"

ASSIGNMENT #3 DUE
Use one or more of Cialdini’s methods on someone else – at work or in your non-work life – to get something you want. Describe what you did and the response to your influence attempt. Use Cialdini’s book to explain why your influence attempt succeeded or not. NOTE FOR NON-SCPD STUDENTS: You have option of doing this assignment with one other class member and to write a paper that is a maximum of 750 words instead of the usual 500.
 

February 14th - Class 11: Mid-term Break NO CLASS : Individual Office Hours
 

February 16th - Class 12: Organizational Change; Bringing Together Two Cultures

Guest: Webb McKinney on the HP Merger

Webb McKinney spent 34 years at HP, where he held many senior positions including running the PC business. He will tell us the story and lessons learned from his last job at HP, where he led the 2000+ person that implemented the HP merger.

Reading:

Burgelman, Robert A., and Webb McKinney, "Managing the Strategic Dynamics of Acquisition Integration: Lessons From HP and Compaq" California Management Review, 48/3 (Spring 2006): 6-27.  (full-text online access available to Stanford users only)

Ewers, Justin. "Cisco’s Connections" U.S. News and World Report, June 18, 2006.

MIDTERM DUE
 

February 21st - Class 13: Organizational Change

Reading:

Chapter 7: Hard Facts

"Smashing the Clock" BusinessWeek, December 11, 2006
 

February 23rd - Class 14: Organizational Design and Culture, Part 1

General Introduction to Organizational Culture
Building a Culture for Implementation

Film - "Southwest Airlines"

Case - "Southwest Airlines"

Reading:

Chatman and Cha, "Leading by Leveraging Culture" California Management Review, 45:4 (Summer 2003): 20-34 (full-text online access available to Stanford users only)

Gittell, J. H. (2000). "Paradox of Coordination and Control" California Management Review, 42:3 (Spring 2000): 4-117 (full-text online access available to Stanford users only)
 

February 28th- Class 15: Organizational Design and Culture, Part 2

Building a Culture of Creativity: Some Weird Ideas That Work

Reading:

Surowiecki, J. audio interview about "The Wisdom of Crowds"

Hargadon, A. & Sutton, R.I. "Building an Innovation Factory" Harvard Business Review, May-June, 2000 (full-text online access available to Stanford users only)

March 2nd - Class 16: Mavericks at Work

Guest: Polly LaBarre, founding editor Fast Company magazine

Reading:

Taylor and LaBarre (entire book)

ASSIGNMENT #4 DUE
Is it possible to have organizational creativity WITHOUT having some mavericks?
 

March 7th - Class 17: The No Asshole Rule – My Answer to the Final Exam Question

Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn’t

Reading:

Check related posts and links on www.bobsutton.net

Robert Sutton "Nasty People" CIO Insight

Pfeffer, J. "You Don't Have to be Well-Liked to Succeed"
 

March 9th - Class 18: IDEO: A Case Study of an Innovation Firm

Guest: Whitney Mortimer, Head of Marketing at IDEO

Reading:

Go to www.ideo.com and watch the Tim Brown Davos video, and read the latest stories that are posted.

Film:

The Deep Dive. An ABC Nightline Episode
 

March 14th - Class 19: The Knowing-Doing Gap

Reading:

Robert Sutton "The Smart Talk Trap" CIO Insight

Robert Sutton "The Enemy Next Door" CIO Insight
 

March 16th - Class 20: Final Class

Course evaluations
Parting thoughts

FINAL DUE