Today's dynamic global economy requires extensive management knowledge and skills that are focused on systematically designing and transforming organizations into world-class competitors. BGSU has responded directly to that challenge by providing a masters program in Organization Development (MOD) that is emerging as a benchmark program across the country and around the world. This program involves educating both traditional full-time graduate students and executive students.

As a program our vision is to strive to become the benchmark program by which other Organization Development programs are measured. Our mission in pursuing this vision is to educate managers, practitioners, and students in the values, knowledge, and skills required in Organization Development and Change while contributing to the advancement of the field. This vision and mission combine to serve as the standard by which we assess our program. Consistent with our vision and mission our assessment is multifaceted with attention to learning outcomes for our students (internal) as well as learning outcomes for the field (external).

Internal Learning Outcomes

The learning outcomes we strive to achieve related to our students are captured in the attached Organization Development and Change (OD&C) Competencies Grid. The OD&C competencies were collaboratively developed by faculty from BGSU and colleagues from the Academy of Management’s Division of Organization Development and Change. The Academy has adopted the competencies as a framework for describing the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) that are foundational for entry-level practice in Organization Development.

At BGSU we have mapped our courses on to the OD&C competencies to form the Competencies Grid. This ensures that as a program we cover the essential Organization Development competencies. Entering students are given the Competency Grid as a learning tool to guide their studies and specify learning outcomes for each course. In addition, we have developed an exit survey for our graduates that self-assesses their competencies. When implemented, this will allow our program as well as the individual students to continuously improve through potential program changes or individual self-directed study.

External Learning Outcomes

As a program we look to positively influence learning in the field of Organization Development primarily through two means, our Annual Best Practices in Change Conference and the presentations and publications of our faculty and students.

Our Annual Best Practices in Change Conference serves to further continuing education for our graduates and to educate managers and practitioners. Entitled “Leading Change: Lessons for the Future” the conference brought together a blend of top-notch organization leaders with some of the best scholars in the field of organizational change to discuss how to incorporate key practices that achieve lasting change. Over 100 people attended the conference.

We take great pride in our program and are actively engaged in enhancing its reputation and quality. Following is a list of program highlights from the past year:

o Ms. Angie Stoller was hired as the new Assistant Director, Master of Organization Development, and Ms. Molly Monroe was hired as the MOD secretary.

o Fourteen full-time MOD students and 12 EMOD students graduated in 2004. Thirty-six percent of the full-time students reported taking jobs by the time they graduated and 91% were employed within six months.

o Fourteen students started the full-time MOD program in August 2004. A new EMOD cohort started in January 2005. Eighteen students started the program.

o Full-time MOD students participated in six field consulting projects. Projects were completed with BGSU Bursar’s Office, Mercy Health Partners, Sauder Woodworking, Sky Financial, Stuart Dean, and Otterbein Retirement Living Community.

o The Department hosted the 2005 MOD Best Practices in Leading Change Conference. Entitled. “Leading Change: Lessons for the Future” the conference brought together a blend of top-notch organization leaders with some of the best scholars in the field of organizational change to discuss how to incorporate key practices that achieve lasting change. Over 100 people attended the conference.

o The Department co-hosted with the Academy of Management OD and C Division, the 2005 Summit on Building ODC as an Academic Discipline. Academicians from around the world came together to discuss the challenges facing ODC as an academic discipline.

o A Graduate Certificate in Organization Change using classes that are offered as part of the full-time MOD program was developed and will be offered effective Fall 2005.

o The Executive MOD program sponsored an updating of BA 113 classroom by purchasing new tables and classroom chairs.

o Four employers attended an internship networking gala in December for full-time MOD students.

o The MOD website was revised.

The MOD Program is home to the Institute for Organization Effectiveness (IOE). The Director is Jane V. Wheeler. Following is a list of IOE activities for the past year:

o Sponsored Dr. Donald Warrick, Distinguished Teaching Professor of Management and Organization Change and President’s Teaching Scholar at the University of Colorado (Colorado Springs) and President of the Warrick Agency Training and Development Company in the Excellence in Management Speaker Series during Fall 2004.

o Continued the Executive Advisor Program (EAP) to provide students with the opportunity to interact with well-known and established leaders in the corporate world. This year’s Executive Advisor, K. Brent Somers former CFO of Key Bank was a guest speaker, participated in research projects, and mentored students.

o Awarded two Professional Development Grants for student professional development.

o Designed and presented a training program called “Increasing Buyer-Supplier Effectiveness.” The seminar provided continuing education for supply chain professionals and provided the opportunity for an Ed.D. student to gather data for her dissertation. This project was co-sponsored with SCMI and Toledo-area National Association of Purchasing Management (NAPM).

o Conducted one field project to provide MOD/EMOD students with consulting experience. The project was conducted with GFWoods Consulting. In this project, EMOD students assisted the Ohio Department of Mental Health as it creates the “Ohio Suicide Prevention Foundation.” This organization is a non-profit organization based in Bowling Green.

o Sponsored two research projects:

o “Leadership and the Law: A Study of the Relationship Between Emotional Intelligence And Legal Effectiveness” - This study involves working with an alumnus of the EMOD program to examine the impact of emotional intelligence on the legal profession.

o “The Emotional Intelligence of the Buyer-Supplier Relationship and its Impact on Performance” - This study involves working with an EMOD student, as part of her dissertation requirements towards completion of the BGSU Ed.D. degree.
Our faculty and students have been engaged in advancing learning within the field through the pursuit of an active research agenda. This is evident in the record of presentations and publications listed below.
Publications
1. Cady, S.H. (2004). Live with Passion! Following your best alternative in life. OD Practitioner. 36(3) 16-21. (Rated B)

2. McGrath, R. N. and Yeh, A. B. (2005) “A Quick, Compact, Two Sample Dispersion Test: Count Five,” The American Statistician, 59, 47-53. (Rated A) accepted October 2004.

3. Muthusamy, S.K and Palanisamy, R. 2004. “Leveraging Cognition for Competitive Advantage: A Knowledge Based Strategy Process, Journal of Information & Knowledge Management, Vol. 3, No. 3, p. 259-272. (Not Rated)

4. Muthusamy, S.K. and White, M. A. 2005. Learning and Knowledge Transfer in Strategic Alliances: A Social Exchange View. Organization Studies, 26 (3) 415-442. (Rated A)

5. Druskat, V.U. & Wheeler, J.V. (2004). How to Manage a Self-Managed Team. MIT Sloan Management Review, 45(4), 65-71. (Rated B).
Presentations:
1. Varney, G.H., Darrow, A.L., and Saner, R. The foundation for the development of ODC competencies in academic programs. Meetings of the National Academy of Management, 2004.

2. “Using OD as a Lens for Understanding Supply Chain Change Initiatives,” Eboch, K., Hartley, J. and McFillen, J. Part of “Integrating OD and SCM: Effecting Actionable Change in the Supply Chain”. Symposium on Integrating OD and SCM: Effecting Actionable Changes in the Supply Chain, National Academy of Management Meetings, 2004, New Orleans, LA.

3. McGrath, R. N. “Model Selection in the Presence of Multiple Dispersion Effects in Unreplicated Fractional Factorials,” Invited paper at Joint Statistical Meetings, Toronto, Canada, August 12, 2004.

4. Muthusamy, S.K., Carr, A. and Cady, S. “Supply Chain Change Management: Supply Chain Meets Organizational Development”. Symposium on Integrating OD and SCM: Effecting Actionable Changes in the Supply Chain, National Academy of Management Meetings, 2004, New Orleans, LA.

5. Wheeler, J.V., Schumacher, L, Hur, D., & Scarpelli, J. “Examining the Impact of Emotional Intelligence on the Buyer-Supplier Relationship.” Symposium on Integrating OD and SCM: Effecting Actionable Changes in the Supply Chain, National Academy of Management Meetings, 2004, New Orleans, LA.

6. Wheeler, J.V., & Bradford, D.L. “Invitation or Imposition: Exploring the Pedagogical Issues Associated with Classroom Self-Disclosure.” 2004 Organizational Behavior Teaching Conference, Redlands, CA.