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MS&E 280 Course Outline
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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
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