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Management 621 The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania MBAExec (West) – Summer 2012 The focus of this project is applying concepts and theories from the course to real life organizational problems in an integrative fashion. You will choose which specific problem to work on, and in which organization. Most teams choose the organization of one team member as the FAP site, while other teams find their FAP sites through other organizational connections of team members (e.g. a place where someone volunteers; via a family member.) We will devote certain class sessions to meetings about FAP between the instructor and each learning team. The first meeting, roughly 25 minutes per team, is scheduled for Saturday, June 9. Teams should plan to develop a one-page summary for the FAP that includes a statement of the problem, the planned scope of work, and a preliminary approach to exploring the problem. This onepage summary should be e-mailed to me by Wednesday, June 6. The second meeting is scheduled for Saturday, July 21. This will be a progress report, again roughly 25 minutes per team. Please email a written progress report to me by Wednesday, July 18. The final report for FAP is due on the last day of class, Saturday, August 4. The FAP reports should be 20 pages long, or roughly 5000 words (word count not needed; appendices not included in page count). A case format can prove quite valuable, organizing the report in multiple parts, e.g. part 1 that focuses on pure description of the problem or decision situation, part 2 that provides your team’s analysis of the problem; and part 3 that provides your team’s recommendations for action. Further guidance on the structure of the project report will be provided during the course. This report will count for 35% of your course grade. Each learning team will also present its work on FAP to the class on the last day of the course. The presentation will count for 5% of your course grade. In addition to providing an opportunity to present ideas before a group of peers, this also has the advantage of sharing the learning from your project. While the percentage of your grade that depends on your FAP presentation is low, the implicit motivation to do well on the presentation is high, in my experience, given the natural competitiveness of MBAExec students and the feeling of pride that team members have about their FAP work. The team should prepare a one page summary of their presentation for distribution to the class. By way of illustration, some project titles from the past several years are: • Mind the Gap: Confronting Generational Myths among Cisco Employees • Improving Attraction and Retention of Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists • Black Rock-Barclays Global Investors Merger: Morale and Motivation at Black Rock SF • Oracle: Managing Developers, Developing Managers • Glengarry GlenSABIC: The New Leads Initiative at Saudi Basic Industries • Sid’s Hardware: Jayworking on Jay Street • Implementing Cost Savings in the Legal Division of Bristol-Myers Squibb • KLA-Tencor Customer Feature Requests: Climbing Out of the Black Hole • BOC Edwards: Motivating Employees During Philadelphia Plant Closure • Retaining New Mothers in Demanding Jobs: Fox News, Washington Bureau • Allegiant Travel: Managing Culture in a Growing Company • The Princeton Review: Cracking the Acquisition Test • Engaging Associates in Times of Change at Capital One • Transitioning to Alternative Legal Fee Structures 6
Management 621 The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania MBAExec (West) – Summer 2012 • ERisk: One Team, Many ‘I’s’ • Star Wars: Being SMART on Retention • Red Door Spas: Short-Term Incentives and Their Effects on Employee Motivation • Electronic Medical Records: A Clinic’s Long Journey • Protecting Pandora’s Box: Preserving Organizational Culture in Recruiting and Performance Management • Polishing the GemStone: Aligning Goals and Incentives in a Virtual Workforce • Swords into Ploughshares: Integrating Military Veterans at Con Edison • The Merger of MedCases and IC Axon: A Tale of Two Sales Teams • Viropharma Inc.: Evaluating Organizational Dynamics Amid Rapid Growth • Deutsche Bank: Managing the Risks of a Location Optimization Strategy • How Can Stocklmeir Elementary Motivate and Retain Teachers • GE’s Financial Management Program: Doing It Better • The Limited Inc.: Redesigning the District Manager’s Role • Air Products: Implementing Diversity at a Mature Multi-National Company • Retention of Good Technology Employees Inside Motorola • Attracting and Retaining Millenials: The Next Generation at Campbell’s • Transforming Angel.com into a Customer-Centric Organization • Clone or Die: Genentech’s Struggle to Reinvent Itself • The Roger Smith Hotel: An Organization at a Cultural Crossroad • Managing A Biotech across Two Continents: Organizational Challenges at Chemizon • Patient Safety at Swedish Medical Center: A Call to Action • Pixar University: The Force Behind Efficient Employee Utilization • Connecting the Links at AirLink • The Differentiated Workforce at Cypress Semiconductor • Searching for Innovation at Microsoft Online Services Division • Asian Americans for Community Involvement: Enhancing Organizational Efficiency EVALUATION Course evaluation is based on written work and classroom participation, including both individual contributions and group activities, weighted as follows: Class participation (including team case presentation) Course paper – analysis of your current job Individual case analysis Field Application Project -- written report Field Application Project -- team presentation 20 percent 20 percent 20 percent 35 percent 5 percent 7
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