Syllabus

Course Meeting Times

Lectures: 2 sessions / week

Lecture 1: 2 hours / session

Lecture 2: 1 hours / session

Course Objectives

• Understand the nature and operation of technology policy organizations in the 21st Century - utilizing alternative lenses, tools and methods.
• Build leadership skills associated with aligning organizational strategy, structure and process in support of technology policy objectives.
• Ground knowledge of technology policy organizations in the complex realities of organizational life - through integration of personal experience and field data collection.

Reading Material

Most of the readings come from a "modular" textbook entitled: Ancona, Deborah, Thomas Kochan, Maureen Scully, Eleanor Westney, and John VanMaanen (a team of Sloan School faculty members). Managing for the Future: Organizational Behavior and Processes. 3rd ed. Boston, MA: South-Western College Pub, March 15, 2004. ISBN: 0324055757.

Each "module" includes an introductory note that synthesizes material from the research literature as well as the business press, drawing on the research of the authors and contributors. Following the introductory note, there are cases for students to prepare and/or selected readings from the business press to help students assess critically the emerging patterns.

Class Participation

Learning in this class requires personal participation and involvement. Sharing perceptions and ideas with each other is crucial for learning and for understanding how the diverse opinions that you are likely to encounter in an organization get articulated and debated. You will find yourself presenting and testing out new ideas that are not wholly formulated and assisting others to shape their ideas. You should be prepared to take some risks and be supportive of the efforts of others.

Teams

For two major class projects and certain other activities, you will be organized into teams. This is a functional way to accomplish the tasks and it is also part of the class learning. To help you become an effective work team, our Team Handbook is included in Module 3 of the course readings. This handbook is a resource for you and your team to use in managing relationships and productivity of your team.

Skill Modules

Some of our classes will conclude with a 20-30 minute interactive skill module. These cover a wide range of skills relevant to being effective in organizational settings. Each is taught in a "train-the-trainer" format so that you can help build these skills in organizations, as well as utilize them yourself.

Graded Assignments

The grade is based on two assignments and class participation. All papers are to be double spaced.

• Industry Policy Paper 1 - Individual Stakeholder Analysis (2-3 page individual paper)
  • Due in session 6
• Industry Policy Paper 2 - Multi-Stakeholder Policy Briefing (4-5 page group paper (3-6 people))
  • Due in session 12 (with presentation slides due at time of prior presentation)
• Class Participation
  • Attendance in all classes is a base-line pre-requisite for this part of the grade - consistent attendance earns a grade of "90." This can be reduced with absences and increased by making informed contributions to class discussions, particularly comments that incorporate insights from reading assignments. This is not a reward for maximizing "air time" - indeed, encouraging contributions by others and shared learning by the class are highly valued. There will be additional short, ungraded assignments associated with preparation for specific class exercises and learning - all of which are factored into class participation.

Grading Policy