COURSE # MGM-220

In a complex environment of rapid unplanned change, how effectively we deal with emergent conditions depends on the quality of the approaches we use and implement.

The quality of the approach to change depends more on the organization's philosophy and world view than on science and technology. The paradigms and underlying assumptions that are developed are the products of historical circumstances. In general, they are based on the assumptions that evolved from the industrial era and the mechanistic World View that prevailed from the Renaissance until about the time of World War II.

Understanding changes that are currently taking place requires a paradigm shift. Systems Thinking/Systems View of the world is evolving as an alternative to the old paradigms. In Systems Thinking the orientation is on Social Systems. Social Systems are behavioral systems containing purposeful parts which are contained in larger purposeful systems.

Metadisciplinary systems thinking implies the use of holistic theories to bring about radical change in the way managers see their organizations and the world in which they function. Yesterday's successes mean very little in a world of rapidly changing economies, values, and life-styles. To survive and prosper, modern organizations must devise means of continuous self-renewal incorporating Systems Thinking. Managers must focus on systemic properties of entire systems that their parts alone do not have, while operating within larger systems.

Applications and benefits:

You will benefit by enhancing your understanding of the :

• The role of managers in the change process.
• When it is necessary (or not) to bring about change.
• Possessing the competencies to bring about change when it is required.
• Being more concerned with the ways that parts of a system interact than how each part acts alone.

Who should attend:

This seminar will provide useful information for those who are responsible for or involved in managing engineering efforts. Specifically, managers, design engineers, process engineers, production and quality control managers.

Course Outline:

• Systems Thinking

  The changing concept of reality as we move into a new age

  Why changing the way we think is critical to success

  The ideas and methods needed to plan for today's turbulent and complex-organizational environments

  The key role of the concept of "system"

  The importance of interactions

  Our changing concept of the enterprise

  The implications of the stakeholder view

• Idealized Redesign

  The fundamentals of Interactive Planning and its phases

  Mess Formulation - an interactive, problematical situation

  Design as a methodology of planning

  The deficiencies of conventional planning

  The advantages of Design based planning

• Multidimensional Organization
  Joint performance as the reason for an organization's existence
  Coordination and integration of the divided work
  Inputs, outputs, and markets as three criteria in designing the organization
  Hierarchical control of "peer" divisions in traditional approaches
  The emerging "supplier to customer" approach

• A Structure for Participative Management
  Managing interactions
  Learning versus commanding
  Democratizing the work place
  Increasing staff readiness, willingness, and ability to change
  Facilitating communications
  Facilitating organizational learning

• From Downsizing to Rightsizing to Selfsizing

  Advantages of corporate capitalism

  Analogy with Perestroika

  Creating self-regulating systems

  Reacting quickly to market forces

  Preventing bureaucratic growth

  Eliminating internal conflict

  Identification of profit centers

  Business planning for profit center

  Creating a level playing field

  Concepts of pricing

  Financial management

• Management Learning System

  Parameters involved in decisions

  Process to improve decision making

  Defining organizational learning

  How the MLS components function

  Critical success factors and their relationship to the planning process, performance indicators, and management information needs

  Diagnosing the causes of performance decline

Several videos featuring Russell L. Ackoff, the renowned leader of the systems thinking movement, will be shown. Dr. Ackoff is Chairman of the Board of INTERACT and the Anheuser-Busch Professor Emeritus of Management Science, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. In additional several practitioners of Dr. Ackoff's philosophy will describe their experience in implementing systems thinking. These individuals are from Fortune 100 companies.

Robert Reid is co-founder of the Organizational Effectiveness Institute. He has written extensively in the area of organizational change management, creative thinking, and systems design. In his 25 years of consulting experience, he has worked with over 50 major companies worldwide. His recent book is entitled Change From Within: People Make the Difference.

His next book Paving Your Success Path will be out in late 1996.

Course: MGM-220        Duration: 2 Days        FEE: $995        CEUs: 1.44

Please direct any additional inquiries regarding this course to Anita Hellstrom, Program Coordinator, by e-mail, FAX: (301) 871-4942 or TELEPHONE: (301) 871-9608.

Call toll free 1-800-683-7267 from anywhere in the Continental U.S. or CANADA.

Last modified July 3, 1999.