GBUS 8042 THE SPIRIT OF THE NEW WORKPLACE

This seminar invites students to explore the possibilities of human organization and assess their core values, assumptions, beliefs, and expectations about work. The course format is a one-week exploration of the role work plays in the lives of individuals and communities around the globe. It is designed to prompt students to begin a lifelong quest for learning about who they are and how best to perform and lead others to success in an ever-changing business climate. By coupling a general management perspective on current workplace issues and trends with each student’s sense of self, the course is about discovering what work can be at both the individual and the organizational levels. Through large and small group discussions of cases and readings, various experiential activities, body awareness and movement exercises, journaling and free writing, guided meditation, and individual reflection, each student will have the opportunity to discover what is true for them and move forward with that knowledge. Before the start of the course, each student is required to choose, read, and summarize a book that is relevant to the course.

Academic course objectives:

· Recognize current trends in the workplace

· Build an analytic framework for assessing future workplace innovations

· Discover an understanding of work and the role it plays in life

· Work with tools and methods that facilitate transition into the work world

· Combine personal self-awareness with inventive human resource practices to achieve greater individual and organizational success

· Experience the benefits of having fun with a purpose

Elements of the course grade:

Class contribution                   30%

Group presentation                 30%

Individual project                   40%

Web address for additional course information:

harderj@virginia.edu