Albers School of Business and Economics
Departmant of Management

Seminar Description:
The purpose of this course is to prepare students to be effective leaders; managers and team members, who understand themselves and their relationships with others.  By providing exposure to various tools, theories and methods of increasing awareness to individual preferences, students gain the means to interact as equal contributors with unique contributions.

The course integrates the fields of psychology and business by teaching students how to determine the individual preferences and assess impact on productivity.   To make the material meaningful and relevant students will work together in teams, applying the theories of Carl G. Jung, Katharine Briggs, Isabel Myers and David Keirsey through in class exercises.

In this class we will also introduce certain principles that will align the goals and objectives of business entities with the synergies of a diverse workforce.  Students will also learn the differences between “Individual Practices” and “Group Processes.”  The program may include guest lectures that are subject matter experts in the area of “Working Together.”

Introduction:
Recent breakthroughs in science and technology have helped to improve our understanding of people, motivation and behavior.  “Working Together” explores these discoveries and their impact on productivity.  Using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), a widely used instrument that assesses several dimensions of personality type, students will explore the forces of human interaction in the work place, and expand their awareness of themselves and others.

Developed for the graduate student who would like to improve their work effectiveness by understanding the dynamics of individual style.  This seminar is designed as a study tour of the human condition, exploring the dimensions of personality and personal preferences.  By completing the MBTI self-inventory, students will identify their own personality type in terms of the MBTI framework.  Students will also discover potential advantages and disadvantages encountered in the workplace based on differences in personality type.

Gaining a greater awareness of how their preferences and the preferences of others can influence workplace interactions, students will build an understanding of the diverse nature and collective organizational contributions of individual strengths.  Exploring the most recent biological and psychological breakthroughs in individual personality, participants will examine and evaluate the secrets of the individual’s contribution to synergy and organizational dynamics.  Collecting new insight as to how people approach tasks and projects, leading to the choice of more productive behaviors at work.

Participants will explore and experience first hand the inborn chemistry of workplace relationships and the bonding process that builds successful teams and organizations.

Objectives

Upon completion of the seminar participants will be able to:

• Differentiate between character and temperament
• Differentiate between forces impacting culture and values
• Effectively evaluate human potential
• Differentiate between knowledge, skill and experience
• Differentiate between education, training and practice
• Select and apply developmental strategies
• Identify individual communication styles
• Identify individual learning styles
• Identify the impact of individual preferences on organizational culture and ethics
• Identify the contribution of individual personality on workplace conflict

Required text:
Please Understand Me II (David Keirsey)
Working Together (Dr. Olaf Isachsen and Dr. Linda V. Berens)
I'm Not Crazy, I'm Just Not You ( Roger R. Pearman and Sarah C. Albritton)

Unique Nature of Working Together
Our program is designed to explore, examine and even challenge the validity of certain accepted business theories in use today.  We begin by identifying major turning points in business history, such as the evolution of the personnel department and the formation of labor unions.   We continue by recognizing 1776 and the publishing of The Wealth of Nations as a revolutionary turning point for both economics and business.  Participants discover, that by accepting Adam Smith’s authoritative treaties on the benefits of a new business practice, a door was opened to a concept that drove both the size and the evolution of organizational structures in business.

From this point participants explore the reality that the Wealth of Nations only gave recognition and legitimacy to a practice that had been evolving for nearly 150 years.  As the demand for goods surged in an ever expanding and war torn Europe, the structure and constraints of the world commerce would be changed forever by a new idea.   Participants will explore how wealthy entrepreneurs, who had invested heavily in profits of colonizing, launched two innovative changes in business thinking.  The first was the increase of the productive capacity by using un-skilled farm workers.  The need to train that work force to function in an over simplified assembly process, resulted in the second innovation, recruiting horse trainers.   Four hundred years later, while the Latin term “Manager” still means horse trainer in France and Italy, it reflects an entirely different meaning in the English-speaking world.

In the construct of Adam Smiths business model, economic power was shifted from the guild-based knowledge worker, to the capital broker and the resource manager.  Through two hundred years of practice, we have successfully mastered the principles of capital and management.  Today, while the supply of capital and management are in abundance, a shortage of knowledge has again made the worker king.  In the economic terms of supply and demand, workers have the options and choices.

However, the core of the seminar focuses on three major elements lost in the transformation from the guild-centered world of commerce to the modern model of corporate business.  Participants explore the power of individual style; the power of individual practice and the barriers of organizational dysfunction.  It is the intent of this program to present the latest information on the impacts of individual human behavior on the success of business.  It is our hope that together we can answer the question, “What does the business organization of the future really look like?”

Unique Structure of Working Together
All Management 591 offerings are 1-credit seminars.  The nature of the seminar is to expose students to a brief, but informative glimpse of business related concepts and information.

Management 591: Working Together is also a 1-credit seminar distilled from 6 credits of materials.  Unfortunately, knowing which information is best suited for the learning experience is impossible to know without input from the students.  Therefore, in order to optimize the learning experience, the students will participate in developing a set of learning requirements that fit within the scope of the seminar.  The scope of the seminar is a basic overlying message.

Scope of Seminar:  Working Together: Why, How and When

The requirements are more specific and fit within the framework of the Scope.  In this case the requirements will represent new knowledge desired by the students.  Therefore on the first night of class, students establish their learning requirements and the instructor will provide a set of basic requirements.

Instructors Requirements

1. Mastering the role of Personality
   Nature (Temperament)
   Nurture (Character)

2. Mastering the role of Work
   Process
   Practice

3. Mastering the role of Culture
   Alignment
   Cooperation

Schedule of Sessions
The program adapts to the requirements determined by the students.  The sequence of topics is basic and follows the outline below.

Introductions
Overview
1. What makes the Individual Unique and Valuable?
2. Exploring the Sources of Individual Conflict in the Workplace
3. The Principles of Purpose, Process, Practice and the Individual
4. The Dynamics of Strategy, Structure, Systems and the Individual
5. Reestablishing the Relationships, Roles and Responsibilities of Leaders and Managers in the Organization

Competencies:
We address the following competencies in this course:

Critical and analytical reasoning: Students will analyze real world situations, working on the ability to define the problem and assess the personality issues.

Values and Ethics: Students will explore the association between personal preferences and certain ethical and moral behavior.

Effective written communication skills: Any homework and final papers written will be expected to present your ideas and opinions precisely, concisely and coherently.

Teaching Method:
The teaching method in this class is most definitely “active learning”. The applied exercises will teach you far more than a lecture ever could.  The class format will be primarily discussion initiated by lecture.  As such it is extremely important that you come to class having done the assigned readings so that you can contribute.

Basic Requirements:
There are two books to read, various handouts and one major written assignment.  In class exercises will be worked in “Type” groups.   Being a group member implies a certain responsibility to work together.  I will ask you to identify and evaluate the impact of type in terms of contribution to the group dynamics at the end of the quarter.

Grading:
There will be three components to your grade.

                        Points will be allocated as follows:

                        Reading Assignments                                     100
                        Class Participation                                         100
                        Final Paper                                                    100
                        Total Points                                                    300

READING ASSIGNMENT                                                                       ASSIGNMENT

 I.                    Personality-Centered Perspectives                                 Please Understand Me   Ch 1 and 9
II.                     Personality-Centered Management                               Working Together           Ch. 1, 2, 3, 4
III.                     Personality-Centered Balance                                        I'm Not Crazy                Ch. 3 and 7

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