Summer 2013
One week intensive
ML565A/B
S. Trebesch
ML565A/B: ORGANIC ORGANIZATIONS and CHURCHES. Shelley Trebesch.
DESCRIPTION: All ministries exist in some form of organization, whether a church, mission agency, or marketplace enterprise. Organic (vs. mechanical, or formulaic) organizations that flourish are complex, living entities that grow and reproduce according to their DNA and connect with, adapt to, and innovate for God’s mission in their contexts. Therefore, understanding various organizational dynamics such as organizational culture and structures, as well as organizational leadership is critical for any leader desirous of effective ministry. 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 life cyles. Through the use of the seminal theories, case studies and the final project, students will have the opportunity to analyze their own organizations and plan for the future.
LEARNING OUTCOMES: By the end of this course, students will have:
Built an organizational leadership learning community
Interacted with seminal theories of organizational development
Observed their church/organization through a variety of organizational development theories
Evaluated their church/organization in order to diagnose health and offered prescriptives if necessary
Sharpened their organizational leadership expertise
COURSE FORMAT: This course sequence consists of pre-course reading and class participation in a one-week intensive, which includes spiritual formation, lectures, small groups, case studies, and exercises. NOTE: Before the course,students will read and write analytical book reports forPrimal Leadership: Learning to Lead with Emotional Intelligence AND The Starfish and the Spider. The book reports are due the first day of class.
REQUIRED READING: If students have read any of the required texts for another course, please select an alternative text approved by the professor.
Adizes, Ichak, Managing Corporate Lifecycles. Paramus, N.J.: Prentice Hall Press, 1999 (or, an earlier ed. of Lifecycles is fine) (ISBN-10: 0735200572, $48.95)
Brafman, Ori and Beckstrom, Rod, The Starfish and the Spider: The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations. London: Portfolio, 2006. (Please read this and Primal Leadership before coming to class and write an analytical book report for both.) (ISBN-10: 1591841836, $10.20)
Goleman, Daniel, Boyatzis, Richard, and McKee, Annie, Primal Leadership: Learning to Lead with Emotional Intelligence. Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 2004 (ISBN-10: 1591391849, $12.24)
Trebesch, Shelley, Made to Flourish: Beyond Quick Fixes to A Thriving Organization. Unpublished manuscript, 2013, available in the course shell.
One of the following:
Asheknas, Ron et al. The Boundaryless Organization: Breaking the Chains of Organizational Structure, Revised and Updated. Jossey-Bass, 2002. (ISBN-10: 078795943X, $19.77)
Schein, Edgar H. Organizational Culture and Leadership. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2004 (ISBN-10: 0787975974, $38.71) AND Hofstede, Geert and Hofstede, Gert-Jan, Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010. (ISBN-10: 0071664181, $19.77)
Senge, Peter. The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization. New York, NY: Broadway Business, 2006. (ISBN-10: 0385517254, $16.47) AND Senge, Peter et. al. The Fifth Discipline: Fieldbook. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 1997. (ISBN-10: 0385472560, $21.97)
Trebesch, Shelley G. “Organizations that Develop Persons: A Case Study of OMF International.” FTS Dissertation, 2001. (available in the course shell)
(Students may choose to wait to purchase these books until the theories are introduced in class.)
ASSIGNMENTS AND ASSESSMENT:
Analytical book reports for Brafman The Starfish and the Spider, Goleman Primal Leadership and Trebesch Made to Flourish: Beyond Quick Fixes to A Thriving Organization
Reading log for other required books.
Exercises.
Class participation.
Project 1: Discern and/or write the mission, vision, core values, and strategies of your ministry OR Analyze and prescribe your ministry using Adizes’ Corporate Lifecycles.
Project 2: Analyzing and applying at least one of the organizational theories to your ministry.
PREREQUISITES: No prerequisites, but it is HIGHLY recommended that students have at least three years, beyond university, of full-time vocational experience.
RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM: Core course for the MAGL. NO AUDITORS.
FINAL EXAMINATION: No.