15.310  Managerial Psychology (meets w/15.301)

Dear all,

As annouced several times, we will discuss the IDEO case.
Here is the link. You need to purchase it through Harvard Publishing Online.

http://harvardbusinessonline.hbsp.harvard.edu/b02/en/common/item_detail.jhtml;jsessionid=UAYXISH20I5AQAKRGWCB5VQBKE0YOISW?id=600143&referral=2342

Here are some guiding questions.

1. How would you describe the main challenges of IDEO?
2. What are the good design practices and methodologies that IDEO implemented over time? What was your favorite one? Why?
3. Do you see any psychnological issue that may arise during the development?

Since you may have watched the video about IDEO in the class, this case should be easy and fun.
If you haven't watched the video, then here's the link to Youtube version.

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6z-3ejvvGE
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THz6kbcgw9E
Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTf18QAEkcY

I checked with Ryan, and the schedule I had in mind was right.
We will discuss the IDEO case tomorrow, and then there is our last recitation on December 5.
For that last recitation on Dec 5, we will wrap up the semester by discussing the cases and papers we read.
My wife promised me to provide snacks for this session, so it will be much fun.

Best regards,
Sung Joo

Dear all,

I am pretty sure you have already read the case we will cover on this Friday - IBM & Linux.
The link is in the syllabus.
For our discussion to be more productive, I will emphasize the last two "Case" study discussions by giving more participation points for these two classes.
If you think you haven't participated enough in the class, these two classes are good chances to compensate for that.

For this week's discussion, think about four different strategies that Daniel Frye(or IBM in general) can take.
You also need to support your decision by having some concrete analysis and data if possible.
You don't need to submit anything in written format.
Just think about it, and be prepared to participate in the discussion.
In order to prepare in this way, you should thoroughly read the case.

For next session, we will cover IDEO case that is in the syllabus.
For the last class, I will recap the whole class, and will provide some snacks for celebration of the end of the class. :)

Thanks a lot.
Best,
Sung Joo

Dear all,

Here are the reading and the questions for this week's discussion.
Please be prepared for the discussion. Otherwise it will be really difficult for the discussion leaders to make interesting sessions.

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Espen: Social Network

Reading:
“How to build your network”, By: Uzzi, Brian; Dunlap, Shannon. Harvard Business Review, Dec2005, Vol. 83 Issue 12
“A practical guide to social networks”, By: Cross, Rob; Liedtka, Jeanne; Weiss, Leigh. Harvard Business Review, Mar2005, Vol. 83 Issue 3

Questions to: How to build you network
What can you personally do to strengthen you network? And What should you be aware of in the process?

Questions to: A practical guide to social networks
What characterizes the three different social networks described in the article?
Which situations are the three different social networks best for?

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Chris: Engineering Culture

Reading:
1. An excerpt from Engineering Culture by Gideon Kunda (You can find this at the material section of Stellar site)
2. Washington Post article "Building a 'Googley' Workforce" (You can find this at the material section of Stellar site)

This passage is an excerpt from Engineering Culture by Gideon Kunda. The book is an ethnography of a tech company, High Technologies Corporation, circa 1986. You only need to read the parts up to the "Temporary Workers" heading on page 46. Here are the questions I will discuss in class:

• What kind of reputation do engineers tend to desire? What are some negative stereotypes about engineers in the corporation?
• What kind of reputation to managers tend to desire? What are some negative stereotypes about managers in the corporation?
• Drawing on the descriptions in this passage and from any personal industry experience you may have, what would you say are some cultural obstacles to engineering getting along with management? How could these be overcome?

Google
Please read the Washington Post article "Building a 'Googley' Workforce," and watch the following online Google recruiting video: http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=aOZhbOhEunY

I will discuss the following questions in section:

• What kind of image is Google trying to project to current and prospective employees? How specifically does it accomplish this?
• In your opinion, what kind of organizational culture should tech companies strive for? What should they avoid?

Dear all,

I will lead the discussion this week.
Last week, I mentioned that we will discuss Tom Allen's dual ladder.
I will mention it briefly related to the Heavyweight Team article since they are related. But we will not read Tom's article on the dual ladder.

Here are the reading as indicated in the syllabus.

Leonard, Dorothy and Straus, Susaan. (1997) “Putting Your Company’s Whole Brain to Work” Harvard Business Review, Jul/Aug, Vol. 75 Issue 4, p110-121

Clark, K. and Wheelwright S. (1992) “Organizing and Leading Heavyweight Development Teams,” California Management Review, Vol. 34, No. 3.


Questions to be prepared to answer:

I will ask everyone to answer these questions. So you need to be prepared.

1. Which type do you think you fit in Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)?

2. How would you draw your own quadrants in Hermann Brain Dominance Instrument (HBDI)?

3. How can you distinguish different types of development teams – lightweight, functional, heavyweight, autonomous?

4. What are the pros and cons of “heavyweight” teams?

5. What changes are necessary in order to make “heavyweight” teams possible?


See you all on Friday.

Dear all,

We will have Mythri and Feifei's session this week.
Please see the following for the reading material and guiding questions.

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Feifei: From Engineer to Manager.

I have two readings for my session this coming friday

20 ways to get promoted in the tech industry
http://www.infoworld.com/archives/emailPrint.jsp?R=printThis&A=/article/06/10/16/42FEpromotions_2.html

The Five Minds of A Manager
http://www.business.ulster.ac.uk/businst/courses/ards/docs/hbr/16%20The%205%20Minds%20of%20%20A%20Manager%20-%20HBR%20Nov%202003.pdf

Questions

1. What are the five mind-sets that make you a great manager?
2. Which of those five do you feel is easier to achieve?
3. What are the two ways of managing?
4. in summary, what do engineers need to improve/change in order to move
up the corporate ladder?
5. In your past working experiences, which of the 20 ways have been used
by people in your working environment and how successful were they?


I also found this interesting article while searching for readings on my
topic and want to share it with the class just for fun. (maybe many of you
have read this already.)  =p
http://www.ceet.niu.edu/faculty/vanmeer/ieet/enghumr.html



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Mythri: General Negotiation tactics and Cross-Border Negotiation tactics

There are 2 HBR articles:

Investigative Negotiations:
http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=6&hid=9&sid=47aded84-b4e5-4d2a-bf0a-1ef241e33f7f%40sessionmgr7&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=bth&AN=26129649

Cross-Border Negotiations:
http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=6&hid=9&sid=47aded84-b4e5-4d2a-bf0a-1ef241e33f7f%40sessionmgr7&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=bth&AN=6327046

Some questions to keep in mind are:

1. Do you agree with the investigative negotiation tactics that the author suggests? Can you come up with any more tactics based on personal experience?
2. Is there any one negotiation tactic that you think would be most effective? If yes, why? If no, why not?
3. Do any one of the tactics change when looking at cross-border negotiations? If yes, how so?
4. What do you feel is the most difficult thing about cross-cultural negotiations compared to inter-cultural negotiations?
5. What are the differences between the Top Down, Consensus and Coalition Building approaches that are talked about in the Cross-Border article? Are there any more approaches you feel you can add when looking at Cross-Border Negotiations?