MSOD Courses

MSOD 611. Foundations and Orientation to Organization Development (2 units)

This course orients students to the expectations of the MSOD program and provides an overview of the main theories and thought leaders in the field of organizational development. This course establishes the foundations of organizational development: the fundamental principles, values, and aspirations of positive change effort. Students will engage with each other and with faculty using a variety of virtual learning platforms. 

MSOD 612. Intensive 1: Individual Development and Change (4 units)

This course introduces one of the hallmarks of the Pepperdine Master of Science degree in Organization Development, that of understanding the role of ongoing personal development in sustainable strategic change and in the dynamics of consulting. Developing one’s whole self as an “instrument of change” requires a sophisticated understanding of the dynamics of human learning and development. Course content and experiential activities use principles form the interdisciplinary framework of interpersonal neurobiology (IPNB). At the end of this session, students will have embodied a process for fostering ongoing self-awareness, insight, and action in service of personal wellbeing and professional effectiveness. The values-based curriculum demands a commitment to one’s own personal learning as well as a commitment to the learning of others. This foundation provides a base upon which the practitioner then learns the additional theory and skills to make substantive professional contributions to the implementation of substantive strategic change-change toward higher performance at all levels, including a consideration of the human, environmental, social, and economic impact of the change. 

MSOD 613. Foundations of Group Dynamics (2 units)

The purpose of this course is to introduce concepts and theories related to the broad field of organization theory as it relates to group dynamics. Students are expected to reflect on their performance and learning in Intensive 1 as a contribution to their point-of-view portfolio, integrate that learning into the frameworks explored in this course, and mobilize for the experiential course in Intensive 2 (MSOD 614). 

Student Learning Outcomes

1. Familiar with the elements and relevance of open systems theory.
2. Able to describe, explain, and provide examples of the primary components and relationships in organization theory that drive organization effectiveness.
3. Able to compare classic and contemporary perspectives on group dynamics

MSOD 614. Intensive 2: Assessing and Experiencing Small Groups (4 units)

Definitions and improvements of group, and interpersonal effectiveness are the focus of this course. The course begins with a broad overview of organization theory with a particular emphasis on situating the group and small system within the firm. With that in mind, methods for increasing performance in small systems are realized through a range of direct experience with group and team formation, contracting, facilitation, interpersonal experimentation and feedback. 

Student Learning Outcomes

1. Articulate his or her behaviors, values and motivations relative to team changes.
2. Design and implement a group formation process intervention, using relevant group dynamics theories.
3. Enact team-building concepts by productively working in teams with fellow classmates
4. Practice their ability to give and receive feedback to other people and to organizational representatives
5. Demonstrate understanding of design thinking in discussions about organization design and approaches to interventions
6. Demonstrate knowledge of sociotechnical systems and human centered design in observing and analyzing business organizations.

MSOD 622. Intensive 3: Organizational Culture and Consulting Skills (4 units)

This course in the MSOD program is designed to equip students to understand organization theory and design while applying impacts of culture on decision-making and long-term organization effectiveness. It also emphasizes the application of consulting skills to organization development. Some of the issues to be covered include adapting organization development strategies to the culture in which one is working, and the interrelationship among individual, organizational, and cultural values. We will explore, adapt, and apply concepts from organization theory and culture. 

Student Learning Outcomes

1. Demonstrate a working knowledge of assessment models, consulting skills and the consulting process by assessing a challenging issue in a local business or service organization.
2. Have a more sophisticated understanding of the influence of culture on the organization.
3. Develop a practical understanding of diagnosing and intervening in systems at the level of organization culture.
4. Conduct a qualitative analysis and provide clear results to a client.
5. Analyze and evaluate an intervention against intended outcomes.
6. Practice their ability to give and receive feedback to other people and to organizational representatives.

MSOD 615. Foundations of Culture and Globalization (2 units)

The purpose of this course is to introduce concepts and theories related to globalization and culture. As organizations prepare for conducting business in the 21st century, their people need the ability to traverse organizational and country boundaries. Students prepare for their first international session by addressing culture and its dimensions from three levels: the family culture, the country culture and the organization’s culture. Cross-cultural interactions are anticipated and the challenges inherent in working in countries other than one’s own are identified. Students are expected to reflect on their performance and learning in Intensive 2 as a contribution to their point-of-view portfolio, integrate those leanings into the cultural frameworks explored in this course, and mobilize for class and field assignments in Practicum 1.

MSOD 616. Practicum 1: OD Practitioner as Global Citizen and Strategist (6 units)

MSOD 617. Foundations of Strategy and Large Systems (2 units)

The purpose of this course is to introduce assessment concepts and theories related to Strategy and Large Systems. To achieve high performance, an organization’s strategic orientation–its strategies, structures, and processes– must be designed to support each other and to align appropriately into its environmental context. The focus of this course is on the systemic, normative, and assessment considerations associated with environmental scanning and changing an organization’s strategic orientation. Building on the open systems perspective introduced in earlier courses, this course extends the understanding of the relationship among organization environments, strategy, organization design, groups, technology, and culture and effectiveness. Students are expected to reflect on their performance and learning in Practicum 1 as a contribution to their point of view portfolio, integrate those learnings in the frameworks explored in this course, and mobilize for class and field assignments in Practicum 2. 

MSOD 618. Practicum 2: International OD and Complex, Large-Scale Systems Change (6 units)

MSOD 619. Foundations of Collaboration (2 units)

The purpose of this course is to introduce concepts and theories related to collaborations and other forms of trans-organization development. Continuing and expanding on the open systems and complexity perspectives developed earlier, collaborative systems describe the relationships, motivations, and drivers of effectiveness among organizations, governments, citizens, non-governmental organizations, and shared domains (e.g., poverty, climate change, water quality) of interest. Students are expected to reflect on their performance and learning in MSOD 618Practicum 2: International OD and Large-Scale Systems Change (6) as a contribution to their point-of-view portfolio, integrate those leanings into the framework explored in this course, and prepare for class and field assignments in MSOD 620 Trans-Organizational Systems and Strategy (6). 

MSOD 620. Practicum 3: Trans-Organizational Systems and Future Forms of Organization (6 units)

A total systems approach to planned change is required to create optimal, lasting change among an ecosystem of participants. In this third project-oriented and international session we emphasize the development of ecosystems and network-oriented change strategies; the design, development, and sustenance of alliance and trans-organizational collaborations; and the integration of intervention methods for structural, human systems, managerial, cultural, and technological changes. There is an explicit interest in applying organization development technologies to issues of social and environmental sustainability. 

Graduation.

Malibu, CA