PGP PRO Dec 2021 | Introduction to Organizations and Leadership

This course sets the stage for learning about how business works and covers two important aspects of running a business – Organization and Leadership. The first half of the course provides an understanding of what an organization is and its basic purposes, and the topics covered include vertical and horizontal integration, diversification, the managerial role, designing incentive plans, etc. The second half of the course helps pariticipants in differentiating and honoring both management and leadership skills, diving in on each element of the POLC[S] model of managerial excellence, and ending with important thoughts about a manager’s ethics.

Private

Faculty

Prof. Ian Larkin

Professor

Ian Larkin is an Assistant Professor in the Strategy group at the UCLA Anderson School of Management. He researches the optimal use of formal rewards systems by companies, given the complex and often unanticipated effects these systems have on employee motivation and decision making. His research quantifying the cost incurred by a major enterprise software vendor due to salespeople deliberately gaming their sales commission system, published in The Journal of Labor Economics, is one of the most prominently cited empirical studies of incentive system gaming. It was the basis for a case study widely used in MBA classes on compensation and human resource management.

His recent research focuses on corporate awards and other programs companies use to formally recognize employee performance, and demonstrates that these programs often have unintended costs, such as the demotivation of some employee groups. A final stream of research investigates physician prescribing decisions in light of different sales tactics used by pharmaceutical sales representatives. His research has been discussed in a variety of media outlets including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Forbes and National Public Radio.

Ian teaches the core Business Strategy course at Anderson. Before coming to Anderson, he was a member of the faculty at Harvard Business School, where he taught an elective MBA course on human resource management, as well as several executive education courses. He received a Ph.D. from the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley, and a M.Sc. from the University of London, where he was a British Marshall Scholar. Ian worked as an Associate and Engagement Manager for McKinsey and Company, based in Hong Kong and Silicon Valley.

Ian’s hobbies include cooking, traveling and supporting the Green Bay Packers.

Prof. Miguel Unzueta

Professor

Miguel Unzueta is an Associate Professor of Management and Organizations at UCLA Anderson School of Management. His research explores how people understand their position within social and interpersonal hierarchies and the impact this understanding has on their perceptions of self, others, and group-based inequality.

Professor Unzueta teaches the core organizational behavior course for full-time MBA students (@MGMT 409). In 2010, he was awarded the George Robbins Assistant Professor Teaching Award. More recently, he was selected by Poets & Quants as one of the best 40 business school professors under age 40.

Professor Unzueta is currently serving on the editorial board of Aztlán: A Journal of Chicano Studies and is a member of the Riordan Programs’ advisory board.

Course Learning Objectives:

Explain the value of an organization in terms of how it manages resources and transforms inputs into more valuable outputs.
Evaluate a potential diversification opportunity that involves a key resource’s appropriability, control, durability, and inimitability.
Determine the best course of action for a company that is considering vertical/horizontal integration or geographic diversification.
Evaluate managerial applicants’ mindsets for the following qualities: communication skills, motivation, and ability to learn and adjust.
Determine appropriate coaching steps for employees who exhibit various levels of performance and potential.
Design an effective and appropriate disciplinary action plan that is timely, rule-based, and includes managerial action.
Plan specific steps to bridge the gap between the current state and the desired state bringing both managerial and leadership skills to bear.
Create a RACI chart that shows how work on specific tasks should be allocated.
Write a brief sketch of a great leader – either someone you know or a public figure – that describes two key characteristics that define the individual’s leadership and defend your position with facts.
Solve a problem involving a lack of management control in a business situation.
Create a list of tips for coaching an employee who is demonstrating unacceptable behavior.

Syllabus

Learning Objectives:

Explain the value of an organization in terms of how it manages resources and transforms inputs into more valuable outputs.
Evaluate a potential diversification opportunity that involves a key resource’s appropriability, control, durability, and inimitability.
Determine the best course of action for a company that is considering vertical/horizontal integration or geographic diversification.

Module Components:

Video Lectures:

Understanding an Organization
Organizational Scope & Horizontal Diversification
Vertical and Horizontal Integration and Geographic Diversification

Readings:

Customer value creation towards revenue generation
Horizontal Integration
Vertical Integration

Case Study:

Drastic Publishing (Introduction to Organizations – Structures)

Quiz:

Understanding an Organization

Learning Objectives:

Evaluate managerial applicants’ mindsets for the following qualities: communication skills, motivation, and ability to learn and adjust.
Determine appropriate coaching steps for employees who exhibit various levels of performance and potential.
Design an effective and appropriate disciplinary action plan that is timely, rule-based, and includes managerial action.

Module Components:

Video Lectures:

Manager’s Role in an Organization
Incentives Design, Part 1
Incentives Design, Part 2

Readings:

Mintzberg’s Management Roles
Manager’s Role in Motivating Employees
Misconduct & Discipline in Workplace
Framework for Work Motivation

Case Study:

Drastic Publishing (Introduction to Organizations – Motivations)

Quiz:

Managing an Organization

Learning Objectives:

Plan specific steps to bridge the gap between the current state and the desired state bringing both managerial and leadership skills to bear.
Create a RACI chart that shows how work on specific tasks should be allocated.

Module Components:

Video Lectures:

Defining Management and Leadership
Strategic Planning
Organizing and Allocating Resources

Readings:

Top 10 Leadership qualities of a Project Manager
Strategic Leadership: The Essential Skills
Relationship between Personality and Managerial Performance

Case Study:

Drastic Publishing (Management and Leadership Principles)

Quiz:

Management & Leadership Principles

Learning Objectives:

Write a brief sketch of a great leader – either someone you know or a public figure – that describes two key characteristics that define the individual’s leadership and defend your position with facts.
Solve a problem involving a lack of management control in a business situation.
Create a list of tips for coaching an employee who is demonstrating unacceptable behavior.

Module Components:

Video Lectures:

Leading Teams and People
Establishing Management Controls
Staffing and Talent Management
Ethical Management and Leadership

Readings:

Building and Leveraging Informal Networks
Ethical Leadership: Right Relationships and the Emotional Bottom Line
Ethical Leadership: Doing the Right Thing

Case Study:

Drastic Publishing (Management and Leadership – Key Skills)

Quiz:

Management & Leadership Skills

Support

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