Summer 2020/Fuller Online / MAGL

ML565

Maros

ML565: ORGANIC ORGANIZATIONS AND CHURCHES (4 units: 160 hours). Susan L. Maros, MDiv, PhD, Affiliate Assistant Professor of Christian Leadership.

DESCRIPTION: All ministries, whether a church, mission agency, business, school or other, have some form of organization. Therefore, understanding organizational dynamics is critical for any leader desiring to do effective work within the organization. This course will provide an introduction to seminal theories in organizational dynamics including vision/mission/values of the organization, learning organizations, organizational structures, organizational culture and organizational life cycles. Further, in light of the increasingly complex and interdependent world in which most organizations now exist, the course will also provide an introduction to contemporary responses to some of the adaptive challenges facing many organizations today. Through the examination of the seminal theories and creation of a final project, participants will have the opportunity to analyze their own organizations and plan for the future.

LEARNING OUTCOMES: Upon the successful completion of the course, participants will have

built an organizational leadership learning community;
interacted with seminal theories of organizational development;
considered reflective leadership competencies and practices that impact personal growth as Christian leaders;
observed their mission/church/organization through a variety of organizational development theories;
evaluated their mission/church/organization, identifying significant contextual factors affecting them and diagnosing organizational health;
articulated a plan for engagement with organizational development, offering prescriptives where necessary;
sharpened their organizational leadership expertise.

RELATIONSHIP TO PROGRAM LEARNING OUTCOMES: This course will provide an introduction to the seminal theories in organizational dynamics including purpose/vision of ministries, ministry values, learning organizations, and organizational structures, culture and lifestyles, which is consistent with the MAGL PLO “Graduates will examine various organizational dynamics and apply selected administrative theories.”

COURSE FORMAT: This course will be conducted online on a ten-week schedule aligned with Fuller’s academic calendar. Students are required to interact with the material, with each other, and with the instructor regularly through online discussions, reading, and other assignments that promote active learning.

REQUIRED READING: Approximately 1,400 pages of reading (70 hours)

If participants have previously read any of the required texts, please contact the instructor for alternative reading assignment(s).

Heifetz, Ronald and Marty Linsky. Leadership on the Line: Staying Alive Through the Dangers of Leading, revised edition. Harvard Business Review Press, 2017. ISBN: 978-1633692831, Pub. Price $35.00 [288 pp.] Available as Fuller eBook.

Trebesch, Shelley. Made to Flourish: Beyond Quick Fixes to a Thriving Organization. InterVarsity Academic, 2015. ISBN: 978-0830844401, Pub. Price $20.00; Kindle Ed. $19. [208 pp.] Available as Fuller eBook.

Choice Text - One of the following:

Goleman, Daniel, Richard Boyatzis and Annie McKee. Primal Leadership: Unleashing the Power of Emotional Intelligence. 2nd Ed. Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 2013. ISBN: 978-1422168035, pub price $25.00 [336 pp.]

Livermore, David, Leading with Cultural Intelligence: The Real Secret to Success, 2nd edition. AMACOM, 2015. 978-0814449172, Pub price $26.95 [272 pp.] Available as Fuller eBook.

Rah, Soong-Chan.Many Colors: Cultural Intelligence for the Next Church. Chicago: Moody, 2010. ISBN: 978-0802450487, pub price $14.00 [208 pp.]

Project Text - One of the following books:

(Participants may choose to wait to purchase these books until the theories are introduced in the first week of the course.)

Bolman, Lee G, and Terrence E Deal.How Great Leaders Think: The Art of Reframing. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, A Wiley Brand, 2014. ISBN: 978-1118140987, pub. price $30.00. [240 pp.] Available as Fuller eBook.

Hofstede, Geert, and Gert-Jan Hofstede. Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010. ISBN-10: 0071664181, pub. price $32.00 [576 pp.]

Schein, Edgar H. Organizational Culture and Leadership, 5th edition. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2016. ISBN: 978-1119212041, pub. price $65.00 [408 pp.] 4th edition available as Fuller eBook.

Senge, Peter. The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization, revised and updated. New York: Doubleday, 2006. ISBN: 978-0385517256, Pub. Price $28.00 [445 pp.]

ML565 Reader. Available on Canvas and in eReserves. [Approx. 200 pp.]

The documents in the Reader focus on two key points: 1. introducing seminal organizational dynamics literature and 2. addressing intercultural leadership concerns. These resources assist participants in analyzing the seminal literature in light of global and local contextual concerns.

ASSIGNMENTS AND ASSESSMENT:

Instructional content – Instructor videos and other course documents. [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #2, 3 and 5.] [15 hours]
Approximately 1,400 pages of required reading. [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #2 and 3.] [70 hours].
Online interaction, including (but not limited to) weekly online discussions, synchronous small group discussions, and instructor-facilitated video conference sessions (20%). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1, 2, 5] [25 hours].
Context exercises, including but not limited to Organizational Challenges Reflection, Organizational Challenge Interview, Organizational Lifecycle Analysis, Organizational Structure Analysis, Vision, Mission & Values Assessment, and EQ/CQ presentation. (30%). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #2-4] [25 hours].
Organizational Dynamics Analysis Project—Analysis of participant’s mission, church, or business utilizing course content and one of the following theories: reframing organizations, culture and organizations, learning organization, and organizational culture. (50%) [This assignment is related learning outcomes #2- 5] [25 hours.

PREREQUISITES: This course is only available to those who are accepted into the MA in Global Leadership.

RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM: A required course for the cohort portion of the MA in Global

Leadership. NO AUDITORS.

FINAL EXAMINATION: None.