Rencontre Bachelor / Masters Généraliste Et International

The Euromedian Management Approach: A value-based systemic management approach

MBA course Course code: 24 contact hours Dates: 13-14-15 May 2008 Professor: Walter Baets Office: Room 413 E-mail: [email protected] Office hours: by appointment Course language: English

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE COURSE :

Intercultural dialogue is today a matter of necessity, not choice. In Business Schools, faculty members, staff and the student body are rarely a homogeneous group nowadays. In companies, the current merger and acquisition trend confronts an increasing number of newly created entities with a diverse and all equally valuable set of values and expectations. Diversity and management in diversity become key values for companies. Too often, our managerial thinking and practice is based on one prevailing cultural model: the so called Anglo Saxon model. Though this model has never been defined as such, its origin is to be found in the simple fact that management education (and hence management tradition by now) was (and is) mainly created by US Business Schools.

The main characteristics of what we understand by an Anglo Saxon approach are the following. An economy, a market, or a society is considered as a fixed space-time concept, in which a straightforward Newtonian approach can adequately be applied. In this space-time concept, causal relationships are fixed and once they are discovered and correctly identified, they can be controlled and optimised. If we perfectly understand the past and the causal relations that have shaped that past, we can extrapolate in the future and equally control that future. This approach has a clear focus on management control, optimisation, finance as a translation of the famous “base line” in management. Diversity is a disturbing factor, and so is in many aspects the human factor in companies. The tendency inside a company or a market is towards standardisation, a kind of an average, a sort of a melting pot of the different values and beliefs on a specific market, or in a specific company. Next, this average is controlled, translated in financial factors and optimised. One could call it a more mechanistic view of management.

1 However, reality is different and doesn’t really seem to fit this theoretical frame. The more markets are volatile (e.g. financial markets), the more chaotic market behaviour becomes. In order to avoid a fundamental rethinking of our managerial theories and practice, companies and their shareholders increasingly have concentrated on the short term. If the longer term cannot be anticipated, the shorter term can to a certain extent, and in switching rapidly enough, we avoid the disadvantage of uncertainty. Over the last decade we have seen an extraordinary focus on the short term, including an almost exclusive interest in the shareholder value of a company. As a consequence, the shareholdership of a company changed in nature, and so did management.

In this course, an alternative, or enriched, managerial model is proposed that allows a more responsible view on management development, a key success factor for the decade to come. This model is the one that Euromed Marseille has chosen to be its visionary statement. Compared to the more mechanistic main stream approach, this approach is probably best summarized as holistic. Indeed this course suggests that we are about to enrich our understanding of management, in order to be able to tackle the challenges of the future.

Course contribution to the learning goal “Integrating diversity and globalisation in the practice of management”

The Euromedian orientation makes use of European and Mediterranean diversity as a starting point and as a constructive principle. Learning to see worlds differently and familiarising oneself with the current globalisation trends are key issues. The aim is to temper ethnocentric thinking, develop and harness networks and enrich mutual learning. The real issues of economic development seen from a longer-term sustainable perspective are addressed, proposing an alternative, or enriched, managerial model which allows a more responsible view on management compared with the more mechanistic approach that still prevails today. Not only do we host cultural diversity, but see it as an asset of outstanding diversity and learn from it. The notions of complexity and change are taken on board and integrated in a holistic approach to management learning. The learning objectives of the course encompass “savoir” (know), “savoir faire” (know how to do), “savoir être” (know how to be) and “savoir devenir” (know how to become) and include the following:  understanding the Euromedian Management Model;  understanding basic complexity theory & managerial diversity;  understanding the networked economy & economic context;

Course contribution to “Developing a sense of responsible management”

Amongst others, the course emphasizes taking diversity into account, complexity, networked business practices, uncertainty and need for responsible thinking and acting for managing companies and people. It challenges the mainstream North-American model of business, proposing a more holistic way of deciding and acting instead of the

2 more traditional mechanistic way. Such a holistic management approach is the conceptual context within which responsible management and sustainable development make sense and can really foster. It gives a theoretical framework and diagnostic tools that support responsible management, social responsibility, and management learning.

Course contribution to ‘developing and mastering business skills, teamwork and leadership’

Some of the managerial or business skills that this course helps to develop are:

 vision development skills;  critical evaluation & lateral thinking;  group working (sharing knowledge & experience, flexibility, adaptability);  networking;  communication skills;  coaching, leadership & motivation;  entrepreneurship;  creativity & innovation.

OBJECTIVES (competencies that the course develops):

Savoir Analytical skills Understanding the Euromedian Management Approach Understanding of different realities in management Basic understanding of complexity theory and constructivism Problem solving skills  Identification of variables and constraints Define the variables of a Complex Space-Time reality The assumptions of the networked economy  Information management Experience new pedagogical tools and approaches

Savoir faire Project management skills  Identification of multidimensional problem and solution spaces Vision development skills  Understanding the economic context Critical evaluation Translate new concepts in real life situations  Imagine and create innovative actions Lateral thinking  Produce coherence/holism

3 Group working  Master team oriented parameters and attitudes  Anticipate hurdles  Share knowledge and experience  Flexibility  Adaptability Communication  Manage communication supports Manage a personal and group learning file Coaching  Organize and experience co-coaching Management learning  Progress your own “knowing”  Learn from your errors  Incorporate continuous learning Stress management  Time management

Savoir être Euromed Marseille orientation  Stop ethnocentric thinking  Make use of European and Mediterranean diversity Understand managerial diversity Understand the choices made in management and its consequences  Use diversity as a constructive principle  Learn about diversity (of any kind)  Euromedian networking Learn how to operate in networks Respect for the human being  Have an open mind  Be aware of and accept differences  Be tolerant and show humility  Be sensitive for context Entrepreneurship  Be an actor in development Assume the role of manager as a choice making agents Social responsibility  Take societal responsibility for your actions

Savoir devenir Leadership/motivation  Create synergy  Listen  Construct  Motivate  Support and back-up your co-workers

4 Self-motivation  Be involved, ever more Creativity and innovation  Be open for and apply change  Dare to innovate  Embrace complexity and variety (don’t limit)  Be a continuous “learner”  Allow and support others to learn continuously

COURSE STRUCTURE : SESSIONS AND THEMES

1. Introduction to the course and a general overview of the Euromedian Management Approach Euro-Mediterranean values within a historic and cultural perspective; Holism, constructivism and scientific practice

Preparatory work: study and summary of one Wiki (of your choice) about the Euromediterranean Management approach to be found on my blog: http://euromed.blogs.com/readings

2. Complexity theory and the quantum interpretation of business Chapters 1 and 2 of the textbook http://www.euromed-marseille.com/blog/Articles/Stellenbosch.doc

3. Personal development http://www.euromed-marseille.com/blog/Articles/Chapter_Roth.doc http://www.euromed-marseille.com/blog/Assignment/CassandraPDV.xls

4. Knowledge, learning, and innovation Chapters 3, 4 and 5 of the textbook http://www.euromed-marseille.com/blog/Articles/Ermine_hoofdstuk.doc

5. Sustainable development and the Global Compact program http://www.euromed-marseille.com/blog/Articles/COP0506.pdf http://www.euromed-marseille.com/blog/Articles/GC_paper.doc

6. Cassandra: a holistic diagnostic for sustainable performance http://www.euromed-marseille.com/blog/Assignment/CassandraCV.xls

COURSE MATERIAL :

5  The Hybrid Business School: developing knowledge management through management learning (Walter Baets and Gert Van der Linden, Prentice Hall, 2000, available on Cyberlibris)  http://euromed.blogs.com, my personal weblog used in order to support this course. The Blog contains lists of interesting books, some of them available in Cyberlibris. There are scanned articles (of me), interesting websites, discussions that could be of interest, and much more. This Blog will actively be used during the course, both for personal work but also for communication. All communication between us and the students goes via the blog, except if otherwise indicated  In the discussion section of the blog, a number of wikis are available that are made by earlier students and that give good background material. Those wikis are organized according to the structure of this course

WORKLOAD and WORKFORMS

 Class room sessions: 24 h

 Preparatory assignment (the analysis of an example Wiki on the Euro Mediterranean Management Approach; http://euromed.blogs.com/readings): individual assignment: 10 h

 Final assignment (analysis of a company; http://www.euromed- marseille.com/blog/Assignment/CassandraCV.xls): group assignment: 10 h (each student)

 Learning log: individual assignment: 10 h

EXAMINATION AND GRADING :

As a preparatory assignment, the students need to summarize one Wiki on the Euro Mediterranean Management Approach, available on my blog. The learning objectives as stated above will be further assessed by the development of an individual learning log of the course (including an auto evaluation using Cassandra personal development version). Additionally, the students have to make a company analysis (n group), using Cassandra: a holistic diagnostic for corporate sustainable performance. A self- assessment report is made, using the Personal Development version of Cassandra.

Preparatory assignment: 15 % of the final grade

Company evaluation: 35 % of the final grade

Learning log : 35 % of the final grade

6 Self-assessment : 15 % of the final grade

Presence is mandatory

Final grade: is a combination of the all the above mentioned.

TEACHER :

Walter R. J. Baets is Professor Complexity, Knowledge and Innovation, Associate Dean for Research and MBA Director at Euromed Marseille Ecole de Management. Previously he was Director of Graduate Programs at Euromed Marseille. Before joining Euromed Marseille, he held the Philips Chair in Information and Communication Technology and he was director of NOTION (the Nyenrode Institute for Knowledge Management and Virtual Education) at Nyenrode Business University in the Netherlands. He held academic positions in Belgium, France, the Netherlands and Spain. He graduated in Econometrics and Operations Research at the University of Antwerp (Belgium) and did postgraduate studies in Business Administration at Warwick Business School (UK). He was awarded a PhD from the University of Warwick in Industrial and Business Studies and a Habilitation (HDR) of Paul Cezanne University, Aix-Marseille III, France.

He pursued a career in strategic planning, decision support and IS consultancy for more than ten years, before joining the academic world, first as managing director of the management development centre of the Louvain Universities (Belgium) and later as Associate Professor at Nyenrode University, The Netherlands Business School. He has been a Visiting Professor at the University of Aix-Marseille (IAE) and GRASCE (Complexity Research Centre) Aix-en-Provence. He held visiting teaching positions at ESC Rouen, KU Leuven, RU Gent, Moscow, St Petersburg, Tyumen University, Purdue University and Narsee Monjee (Mumbai, India). Most of his professional experience was acquired in the telecommunications and banking sector. He has substantial experience in management development activities in Russia and the Arab world.

His research interests include: Innovation and knowledge; Complexity, chaos and change; The impact of (new information) technologies on organisations; Knowledge, learning and artificial intelligence; On-line learning, work-place learning and pedagogical innovation; A quantum interpretation of management.

He is a member of the International Editorial Board of the Journal of Strategic Information Systems, Information & Management, and Systèmes d’Information et Management. He has acted as a reviewer/evaluator for a number of International Conferences (e.g. ECIS an ICIS) and for the EU RACE programme. He has published in several journals including the Journal of Strategic Information Systems, The European Journal of Operations Research, Knowledge and Process Management, Marketing Intelligence and Planning, The Journal of Systems Management, Information & Management, The Learning Organization and Accounting, Management and Information

7 Technologies. He has organised international conferences in the area of IT and organizational change.

Walter Baets is the author of “Organizational Learning and Knowledge Technologies in a Dynamic Environment” published in 1998 by Kluwer Academic, of “Knowledge Management and Management Learning: Extending the Horizons of Knowledge-Based Management” in 2005 with Springer, and of “Complexity, Organisations and Learning: the quantum interpretation of business”, published in 2006 with Routledge. He co- authored with Gert Van der Linden “The Hybrid Business School: Developing knowledge management through management learning”, published by Prentice-Hall in 2000 and “Virtual Corporate Universities”, published 2003 by Kluwer Academic. Along with Bob Galliers he co-edited “Information Technology and Organizational Transformation: Innovation for the 21st Century Organization” also published in 1998 by Wiley. In 1999, he edited “Complexity and Management: A collection of essays”, published by World Scientific Publishing. He also authored a bestselling book in Dutch (3 editions) “Wie orde zaait, zal chaos oogsten” (Van Gorcum, 2003, 2004, 2006) (Who preaches order will spawn chaos). Together with Erna Oldenboom he publishes “Rethinking growth: social intrapreneurship for sustainable performance” with Macmillan Palgrave (forthcoming 2008)

ACADEMIC FRAUD (definition):

Academic fraud is an act by a student, which may result in a false academic avaluation of that student or of another student. Without limiting the generality of this definition, academic fraud occurs when a student commits any of the following offences:  Commits plagiarism or cheating of any kind.  Submits a work of which the student is not the author, in whole or in part (except for duly cited quotations or references). Such work may include an academic paper, an essay, a test, an exam, a research report, and a thesis, whether written, oral, or in another form.  Presents research data, which has been falsified or concocted in any way.  Attributes a purported statement of fact or reference to a source which has been concocted.  Submits the same piece of work or a significant part thereof for more than one course, or a thesis or other work which has already been submitted elsewhere, without written authorization of the professors concerned and/or of the academic unit concerned.  Falsifies an academic evaluation, misrepresents and academic evaluation, uses a forged or falsified academic record or supporting document, or facilitates the use of a falsified academic record or supporting document.  Undertakes any other action for the purpose of falsifying and academic evaluation.

ADDITIONAL READING :

8 My Blog: http://euromed.blogs.com

Some relevant books of my hand:  IT and Organizational Transformation (Wiley, 1998, with Bob Galliers);  Organizational Learning and Knowledge Technologies in a Dynamic Environment (Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1998);  A Collection of Essays on Complexity and Management (World Scientific, 1999);  The Hybrid Business School: Developing knowledge management through management learning (Prentice Hall, 2000, with Gert Van der Linden).  Wie orde zaait zal chaos oogsten: een vertoog over de lerende mens (Van Gorcum, 2002; ‘An essay on complexity, knowledge and learning’) (with a contribution of Erna Baets on the learning manager)  Corporate Virtual Universities (Kluwer Academic, 2003, with Gert Van der Linden)  La structure quantique de l’innovation: un propos scientifique; Thèse de habilitation a la direction des recherches en sciences de gestion, IAE Aix en Provence, 2004  Knowledge Management and Management Learning: Extending the Horizons of Knowledge-Based Management, Springer, 2005  Complexity, learning and organisations: a quantum interpretation of business, Routledge, 2006

Aerst D, Broekaert J and Mathijs E, 1998, Einstein meets Magritte, Kluwer Academic:

John Henry Clippinger III (ed), 1999, The biology of business: decoding the natural laws of enterprise, Jossey-Bass: applications of CAS to business. One of the few books that attempt doing this. Some great names have contributed.

Ronald Giere, 1999, Science without laws, University of Chicago Press

Humberto Maturana and Francisco Varela, The tree of knowledge, The biological roots of human understanding, 1992, Scherz Verlag

Gilbert Probst, 1987, Organiser par l’auto-organisation, Les Editions d’Organisation