CIMBAns decide: Dilbert or The Office?

As a consultant in my prior career, I could tell how good company morale was at my clients' offices by the number of Dilbert cartoons posted in cubicles. More Dilberts almost always meant poor morale. As a social phenomenon, Dilbert has gained a loyal following of readers who can personally relate to Scott Adams' insights. So I thought CIMBA management students would be interested in Dilbert's world. They weren't.

This semester CIMBA Intro to Management students showed an overwhelming interest in "The Office." The Office was the subject of (at least) five entertaining student choice presentations toward the end of the semester. Even though students made their presentations on the Wednesday afternoon before Thanksgiving travel weekend (along with final exams the next), CIMBAns put their best efforts forth. Interestingly, many of you asserted that Michael Scott is a brilliant manager (despite some foibles and follies). Did you learn that in class?

Motivation in the 21st (?) Century

Management scholars have been studying motivation in the workplace for decades. Many of you will recognize the familiar pyramid pictured here as "Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs," which Maslow formally presented in 1943. To motivate workers, managers have established all manners of external incentives, such as bonuses, stock options, commissions, and other rewards, in the name of improving productivity. What scientists have consistently found, however, is that these external incentives actually hurt performance. In a stimulating presentation from TED Talks, Daniel Pink cites numerous studies that support this and argues that our motivational approach should be based on autonomy, mastery, and purpose rather than on carrots and sticks. The audience - and surely Maslow - agree. The difficult question for managers is how best to implement "what science knows" into "what managers do."

Opening day (or Getting to know you, Parte due)

CIMBA students met in classrooms for the first time on Martedi after arriving in Paderno del Grappa by way of long flights from the states. The University of Kansas, U Conn, University of Oregon, and University of Iowa are particularly well represented in this cohort of motivated undergrads. Other schools with student participants include West Virginia, Iowa State, and Texas Tech Universities and the Universities of Arkansas, Nebraska, Delaware, and Tennessee. During introductions in the management course, I asked students to name a manager they admired and why they admired him/her. The overwhelming theme that arose was that students named managers for whom they had once worked, citing personal care and attention, thoughtfulness, outgoing personalities, and a focus on getting things done while having fun. The idea of what a good manager does is embodied in the type of person and the quality of the relationship with that person. There was plenty of anecdotal evidence of the value of "soft skills" in the management field.

Getting to know you!

I've had the pleasure of meeting most of the new faculty members for the fall 2009 semester and am getting oriented to the Paderno del Grappa campus on the beautiful grounds of the Istituto Fillipin (pictured above). This semester I'm teaching introduction to management and entrepreneurial strategies. Both courses will adopt a strong orientation toward problem-solving (especially Intro to Management, with its incorporation of the Kepner-Tregoe methods of decision-making and problem-solving), and both will be heavily grounded in international contexts.