Professor's+Bio

ISEG Program Center for Professional Education Organization Systems: Leveraging for Sustainable Innovation Professor W F Becker

ISEG Program Center for Professional Education Organization Systems: Leveraging for Sustainable Innovation Professor W F Becker

**//Purpose://** You are near the end of your MBA studies, and have certainly examined many cases. These cases are often several years old and written by professional case writers and most importantly may take a narrow view of the business challenge/issue rather than a whole system (organization) view. In today’s world, change is moving at the speed of light and all parts of an organization are interconnected for better or worse so a different case analysis process is required.

**This process is designed with three purposes in mind**:

1. To help you stay current and analyze from a system perspective the situations you read about online/ in the press and in the business publications 2. To apply theory to actual practice 3. To articulate what you read in a way that: · explores underlying issues · opens discussions for collaboration with others who are involved · helps others learn · avoids laying blame or acting as an expert problem solver

**//Process://** In your consulting company teams: each team is to find and prepare one current organization challenge (a case example) requiring change gleaned from print and the web: newspapers such as the Wall Street Journal; magazines such as the Forbes, Economist, Business Week, Fortune, Fast Company, etc. Each team will present and lead a discussion on their case beginning week 3 (see Syllabus). The cases should be about organizations that are (or should be) anticipating or going through significant change. Some meta-change-themes to consider are:

1. Coming out of the garage: moving from entrepreneurship to a managed business 2. Competition and customers: dealing with a changing market for products or services 3. Ramp as fast as you can: growing with control 4. Lean and Mean: downsizing or reframing an organization 5. Moving into a larger market: going national or globalizing

Your consulting company team will present **each week for 5 minutes**, applying the theme of that week to your case (for instance, the first round of presentations incorporates defining the business challenge, your approach to consulting, and contracting with the  client – your model of consulting). The following weeks you will be learning additional models and probably modifying your presentation to include what you have learned from that weeks readings to your case.

For example: Whole Foods Market was chosen as a case company by one of the teams. It represents category //5, Moving into a larger market: going national or// // globalizing //

Reading articles about Whole Food’s CEO and any other public information about their marketing approach, financials, customers, employees, technology, HR practices will give you background information to understand how successful they may be in going global. Sources are their corporate website; getting a Morningstar report on their stock; doing a Google search on other writings, interview a store manager and other executives and employees if possible. Once you have gathered sufficient data, apply it to the theme of the class: what is their strategy of change, or how have they/you diagnosed the situation/leaders, etc.

Your weekly presentation (Power Point, no more than ten slides taking 5 - 7 minutes) should apply the readings to the case and you should **provide at least two questions** ** for discussion by the entire class. Each of your team will have an opportunity to be ** ** the client and consultant. **

** Weekly presentations will give you practice for the final presentation of your case ** ** the last week of the week of the semester (see Syllabus for date). **

** Final Case article writing and presentation **

Each consulting company will give a **15minute oral presentation and lead a 15 minute** **discussion or exercise (total of 30 minutes)** with the class regarding your diagnosis of your case company and proposed approach, as well as a candid reflection on how well you acted as a team and a one page executive summary for Professor Becker.

**Executive Summary:** provide a one page executive summary to Professor Becker at the beginning of class at which you are making your final presentation. (No Dates)

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