The role that media forms like “social media” (or computer-mediated social networking sites like Facebook or LinkedIn) play in large companies and organizations has become increasingly important for the analysis and leadership of organizations. In this course, students will develop a theoretical basis in, and begin to differentiate among, emerging media and internet technologies, the ethical questions surrounding social media, personal identity and the workplace, and the role that the internet, blogs and email have on group decision-making and the effectiveness of leaders. Students will take their knowledge of how social media are used for promotion and public relations, and how content communities and virtual social worlds are utilized in organizations, and apply it to creating plans for transforming organizations.

This course will focus on the emerging practice of innovation and entrepreneurship around the globe, with a particular focus on developing and lesser-developed countries. As countries such as India and China emerge as sources of innovation and entrepreneurship, it presents new challenges for countries that have traditionally held positions of economic leadership – how can innovators and entrepreneurs capitalize on this trend and counter these threats? Innovation and micro-enterprise in lesser-developed countries and the opportunities that it presents will also be discussed.

Students in this course will learn the principles of managing for creativity and agility. This will include the role of management in encouraging and inhibiting creativity, as well as specific management techniques for managing staff in creative jobs. Specific management techniques will be compared and contrasted for their potential application to innovation and entrepreneurship. This seminar-based course will focus on the ability of organizations to rapidly respond to changing market conditions and emerging opportunities. Topics such as disruptive innovation, alternative organization models, the extended enterprise, and others will be discussed, with a focus on the latest thinking in this area.

This course focuses on the development of an organizational culture that encourages innovation and entrepreneurship. Principles of organizational culture are discussed as a foundation, as well as factors that increase innovation and entrepreneurship. Levers for driving culture and techniques of culture change will also be demonstrated. Students will develop an idea and business plan for an innovative venture within a corporation/agency or a new entrepreneurial venture. Students will demonstrate application of the program content in the creation of a business plan.

This course focuses on developing an organization design that encourages innovation and enhances the success of entrepreneurial ventures. Various organization design techniques are discussed as a foundation, followed by application to various scenarios and business issues.

This advanced workshop explores current techniques in mass market and Internet market research, with an emphasis on state of the art methods and issues facing practitioners. The course explores the social psychology of creating and supplying demand for products and services, by applying qualitative and quantitative research methods in both traditional retail and business distribution channels as well as through the Internet. Topics include market segmentation, product feature targeting, packaging, pricing, bundling, and placement, as well as advertising through direct mail, email, Internet, electronic mass media, and print media.

Due to the rapidly and continually changing nature of industrial and organizational (I/O) psychology, it is important for scholars, researchers, and practitioners to stay abreast of current and emerging issues in the field. Given that many of the changes occurring in the field of I/O are due to the globalization of the business would, particular emphasis will be focused on the role and practice of I/O in the complex environment of global organizations. In this advanced seminar, students explore current and global issues that attract the attention of researchers and practitioners in I/O psychology, as evidenced by the published literature, with an emphasis on learning the application and implementation of best practices and emerging theories in the field. Topics in the seminar will evolve along with the issues that appear most often in the I/O literature, issues that receive the most attention in the professional and business press, and current lines of research having the most impact on the field.

This course focuses on the role of training, coaching, and mentoring as they relate to strategic talent development utilizing an evidence-based approach. Students will learn to integrate and align a development strategy with the long term goals and needs of the organization. Connections will be made to tools and methods used for performance management, identification of high potential leaders, and succession planning. Topics include the role of talent management in increasing the effectiveness of the organization, alignment of talent management strategies with organizational vision and direction, talent management approaches, use of data in talent management, and current trends in talent development.

This course presents approaches to utilizing quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods to evaluate the effectiveness and impact of training programs. Models/methods will include Kirkpatrick’s levels of evaluation, Brinkerhoff’s Success Case Method, Phillip’s ROI method, and new developments in TDR (Talent Development Reporting).

This course focuses on the process of applying research design models and methodologies to the analysis of performance problems or opportunities for organizations, teams or individual workers. Students will develop and apply a variety of systematic measurement tools, including extant (existing) data research, surveys, benchmarking, and focus groups while conducting performance and root cause analysis in the context of needs assessments or front end analysis.