Mondays 4:10pm – 7pm Room TBD MANAGING ENTREPRENEURIAL ORGANIZATIONS Mgt 284C, Winter 2023 UCLA Anderson School of Management John Ullmen, Ph.D. Office : Collins Center, A409 john.ullmen@anderson.ucla.edu cell: (310) 266-1559 Office hours by appointment* *Note: Although there is not a set appointment time for office hours, students are encouraged to reach out for an appointment whenever they might like to do so. Course Description This course focuses on how to develop and manage entrepreneurial organizations. We address issues of “scaling up” entrepreneurial organizations toward becoming professionally managed, mature firms, while keeping them entrepreneurially-oriented. We have practitioner guest speakers (e.g., leaders of high-growth firms faced with these issues) and “live” cases in which students partner with high-growth firms. The course works to address the following issues: 1. Why are some entrepreneurial organizations (such as Microsoft, Nike, Southwest Airlines, and Starbucks) successful over the long term, while others experience difficulty and even fail (e.g., Blockbuster, LA Gear, Osborne Computers, and KMart)? 2. What are the predictable stages of organizational growth, the most important success factors at each stage, and the right tools and methods to apply at each stage? 3. Whether you are in charge of the organization, or a leader/manager within it, or an advisor/influencer, how can you choose with confidence the top priority areas to focus on to support the firm’s success, and if appropriate, growth? 4. What transitions do individuals need to make to succeed at every stage? Page 2 . The overarching theme or issue is: How to make the transition from an early stage entrepreneurship to an “entrepreneurially-oriented professionally managed organization.” It is during and after this transition that MBAs can bring significant value to entrepreneurial organizations. Course Materials: Text: Flamholtz, E. F. and Randle, Y.R. Growing Pains: Building Sustainably Successful Organizations. 5th edition. Jossey-Bass Publishers, Inc., San Francisco, California (2015). Course Reader: Readings include articles in the electronic course reader as specified below under the class session headings. Please note there are readings assigned in addition to what is in the course reader. Wherever possible to obtain rights/permission to use readings without charge I have done so, to reduce the cost of the course reader. Also, as explained below, there are required videos to watch, the links for which will be sent to you. There are optional readings and videos too, and those are NOT required, and you will be at no disadvantage in assignments, discussions etc., without reading or viewing them. Additional handouts will be provided in class, with additional bonus tools, methods, checklists, etc., you can apply. Course Grading: Case Analyses (before Final Case Analysis) Final Case Analysis (see below) Individual Final Paper (see below) Class Preparation & Participation 10% (2 @ 5% each) 30% 30% 30% Class preparation and participation involves attendance, preparation of case analyses, and participation in class discussions, and other in-class activities. Class participation and interaction with our guest speakers/leaders and your peers (and instructor) is important to the learning experience and your ability to apply course tools now and going forward, in your organization and your career. Therefore, come prepared for class sessions, and be ready to engage, learn and apply course insights. Page 3 During the term before your Final Case Analysis, we will have two other case analyses for you to perform in your teams. Details will be distributed and discussed in class. The Final Case Analysis, and the Individual Final Paper (3-5 pages) are explained separately below. To receive full credit, turn in all assignments by the date specified. If you will miss a class, please let me and our Teaching Assistant know ahead of time if you can. Connect with your classmates and check the course website for announcements, information, handouts, and other materials that might have been posted. Grade Distribution As an elective course, Mgmt 284C will be graded within each section using the UCLA Anderson School guidelines: A+, A, AB+ or below No more than 50% of the class At least 50% of the class Learning/Teaching Methods The course has been designed in such a way that to derive optimal benefit it will be necessary for you to go through all of the relevant readings, exercises and experiences from beginning to end. Each part connects with the others. Due to the nature of the topic—integrated, overall organizational effectiveness for firms at certain stages of growth—the course is not (and cannot be) modularized so that the pieces are independent of each other. The learning is cumulative, and the integrated learning will apply to your final presentation. Although this statement may not seem fully clear to you now, I believe it will be as we proceed through the course. If you invest the required effort, you will leave with a solid, integrated, holistic point of view on how an organization’s various elements and systems need to fit together and evolve if it is to continue to be successful through stages of growth and change. You can apply that integrated, overall perspective to any organization you encounter going forward. Learning/Case Preparation The course will focus heavily on application of the concepts learned in the course to problems and cases analyses. Page 4 For the purpose of case analyses, you will be assigned into small groups. You will work with your group to complete the case analyses prior to the appropriate class session and then be prepared to present your results. Advance preparation will be required for the cases. Teams will be called randomly for case presentations. Your preparation will be part of your class participation score. PowerPoint summaries of the presentations are required and need to be submitted online before class begins. Please note that your delivery for the cases is **not**expected to be highly polished, but I **do**want you to have the experience of quickly analyzing organizations using an integrated, holistic method (which we’ll cover), and choosing priorities based on available data and information, and leading a discussion based on your insights given (necessary) constraints on time, resources, etc. This mirrors the “real world” situations you’ll face throughout your career in organizations at any stage. I want to put you at an advantage for that almost inevitable theme in your current and future career. In my experience over many years, being able to set forth your insights based on an integrated, holistic point of view on how organizations develop will put you at advantage versus most who view organizations dominantly through lenses of limited personal experience or are highly biased -- often without realizing it -- by their functional specialty (e.g., as merely a “marketing” person, or a “strategy” person, or a “finance” person). All teams must upload the document with their presentations to the course website, regardless of which team is selected to present. Guest Speakers – “Live Cases” During the quarter I will try to arrange for guests who are either founders or senior executives of entrepreneurial companies to visit the class to share experiences and perhaps do “live case” discussions with you on their organizations. We typically have a terrific and diverse set of such experienced, insightful organizational and industry leaders – often one for every class session. Since these individuals typically have busy schedules, their visits are subject to change. Because of the difficulties of scheduling these speakers, it requires us to be flexible with the course schedule. This means that some assigned course case presentations might be truncated if arrangements are made for a “live case” on a specific date. It is not possible to know about this in advance. Since flexibility is one of the great characteristics of successful entrepreneurs, it is assumed that you will be comfortable with this. Based on overwhelmingly positive student responses to the guest speakers I’ve brought in previously, I expect you’ll find the opportunity to Page 5 hear their perspectives and interact with them briefly to be very valuable. It also presents an opportunity for you to follow up with them, expand your network, perhaps do your term project with them, etc. Teaching Assistant: TBD ----Session #1 – Jan 9 Course Overview & Framework for Organizational Analysis Readings: Growing Pains, Chs. 1-2, pp. 1-46 OPTIONAL: Buchanan, “100 Great Questions Every Entrepreneur Should Ask,” Inc. Magazine, 4/2/2014. (Not in course reader—posted on course website.) Assignment: Complete Word document titled “Individual Context” posted on course website and turn it in on the course website by Session 1. No preparation is required for this assignment, and you can complete it quickly. The information helps me choose guest speakers, etc. Session #2 (Please Note: There is no class session on the Jan 16 holiday. We will **not** meet on the makeup date Jan 20 either. Please simply use the time to prepare for upcoming sessions.) Organizations, Stages I-IV and Assessing the Need for Change. Readings: Growing Pains, Chs. 3-5 pp. 47-111 (Please note: You are not accountable for a detailed recollection of all the Growing Pains material, but I do want you to be able to apply the integrated, holistic point of view the authors set forth on how to analyze organizations. We will adapt and apply the material throughout the course.) Page 6 Collins and Porras, “Building Your Company’s Vision” OPTIONAL: Reid Hoffman’s Two Rules for Strategy Decisions (not in course reader—posted on course website) OPTIONAL: 10,000 Hours with Reid Hoffman: What I Learned (not in course reader—posted on course website) OPTIONAL: Reid Hoffman: What I Wish I Knew Before Pitching LinkedIn to VCs (not in course reader—posted on course website) OPTIONAL: Pitch Advice for Entrepreneurs: LinkedIn’s Series B Pitch (not in course reader—posted on course website) OPTIONAL: Video on the “50 Minute Focus Finder” – see link and more info on course website Case: Starbucks Coffee Company in the 21st Century (Please note: Read the case, which describes the evolution of Starbucks through stages of growth, challenges, and opportunities. You do not need to do a formal analysis of the case, but please do read it with the Flamholtz framework in mind. We’ll use the Starbucks case in class to illustrate how to analyze cases going forward.) Assignments: None Session #3 – Jan 23 Strategic Planning and Strategic Organizational Development Readings: Growing Pains, Ch. 6 pp. 113-158 Neilson, et al., “The Secrets to Successful Strategy Execution” (Please note: The Zappos material is listed here for your awareness, but you will not turn in your Zappos analysis until Session 5.) Hsieh, “Zappos’s CEO on Going to Extremes for Customers” Page 7 Watch 10-minute video with Airbnb’s CEO Brian Chesky and former Zappos COO Alfred Lin, who is now a partner at Sequoia Capital and on Airbnb’s board. (Video link is posted on the course website.) Watch the two brief videos Zappos.com (A) and (B) posted on course website. Jacobs, A. “Happy Feet: Inside the Online Shoe Utopia.” The New Yorker. 7/14/09. (Not in course reader—posted on course website.) Gelles, D. “At Zappos, Pushing Shoes and a Vision,” New York Times, 7/17/15. (Not in course reader—posted on course website.) Silverman, R. “At Zappos, Banishing the Bosses Brings Confusion,” The Wall Street Journal, 5/20/15. (Not in course reader—posted on course website.) Useem, J. “Are bosses necessary? Zappos is leading the way for bossless companies,” The Atlantic, 10/15/15. (Not in course reader—posted on course website.) Hsieh, T. “Why I Sold Zappos.” Inc.com, 4/1/16. (Not in course reader— posted on course website.) Au-Yeung, A. and Jeans, D. “Tony Hsieh’s American Tragedy.” Forbes.com, 12/4/20. (Not in course reader—posted on course website. This reading isn’t intended as part of the “case” analysis, but a piece of communication regarding Hsieh’s untimely death, in case you weren’t aware.) Some optional materials are posted on the course website Case: There is no separate/additional Zappos case document. But treat the combined Zappos material (the brief videos posted on the course website, and the articles above) as an overall “case.” Assignments: None – the Zappos case will be due on Session 5 Session #4 – Jan 30 Management Development, Organizational Structure, Performance Management Systems Readings: Growing Pains, Ch. 9, pp. 215-242 (OPTIONAL: Chs. 7 and 8, pp. 159-213) Groysberg and Cowan, “Developing Leaders” Page 8 Eisenmann and Wagenfeld, “Scaling a Startup: People and Organizational Issues” Watch my video program Executive Leadership (Video link is posted on the course website.) Case: None Assignment: None Session #5 – Feb 6 Leadership Effectiveness in Rapid Change / High Growth Organizations Readings: Heifetz and Laurie, “The Work of Leadership” Thomas, “Inside the Crucible” Collins, “Level 5 Leadership: The Triumph of Humility and Fierce Resolve” OPTIONAL: Watch my video program Developing Executive Presence (Video link posted on the course website.) OPTIONAL: Catmull, “Building a Sense of Purpose at Pixar” (not in course reader—posted on course website) Case: No new case for this session – this session your Zappos team case analysis is due. Assignment: Your Zappos team case analysis (Following the method illustrated with the example case analyses I provided -- analyze the Zappos material as one overall integrated case.) Session #6 – Feb 13 Leading Change Readings: Kotter, “Leading Change: Why Transformation Efforts Fail” Heifetz and Linsky, “A Survival Guide for Leaders” Page 9 Case: None Assignment: None Session #7 (Please Note: There is no class session on the Feb 20 holiday. We will **not** meet on the makeup date Feb 24 either. Please simply use the time to prepare for upcoming sessions.) Leading & Managing Overall Organizational Growth and Development Readings: Growing Pains, Chs. 12 and 13, pp. 305-362 Case: None Assignment: None Session #8 – Feb 27 Managing Corporate Culture Readings: Growing Pains, Ch. 10, pp. 243-273 Katzenbach, et. al., “Cultural Change that Sticks” Kanter, “How Great Companies Think Differently” McCord, “How Netflix Reinvented HR” Hastings, et. al., “Netflix Culture: Freedom and Responsibility” (not in course reader—posted on course website). See also an updated version at https://jobs.netflix.com/culture Rao & Sutton, “Bad to great: The path to scaling up excellence” (not in course reader—posted on course website) OPTIONAL: Nair (2017), “How Netflix works: the (hugely simplified) complex stuff that happens every time you hit Play” (not in course reader—posted on course website) Page 10 OPTIONAL: Hastings (2020), “Netflix’s ‘Keeper Test’ is the Secret to a Successful Workforce” (not in course reader—posted on course website) Case: Patagonia Assignment: Case analyses and presentations Session #9 – Mar 6 Integration of Course Concepts Readings & Case: None, in recognition of time to prepare for your final case analysis and presentation in Session 10. Assignment: Your Individual Paper is due. The paper is a 3-5 page paper focusing on an application of course concepts going forward. Detailed guidelines for the assignment will be distributed in class. Upload your paper on the course website anytime by the session date before 11:59pm. Session #10 – Mar 13 Final Case Analysis & Presentations Guidelines & Assessment Criteria for your Final Case Analysis & Presentations are posted on the course website. Case (choose any of the following options to analyze and present—whichever best suits your team’s interests): Read Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike by Phil Knight. A very highly regarded CEO/Founder autobiography, it’s a revealing, insightful, very readable story of the founding and growth of Nike, Inc. Knight founded the company and served as CEO from1964 to 2004 and as board chairman through 2016. Page 11 Here's a link to an additional, optional article (PDF below): https://qz.com/936931/nike-air-vapormax-as-air-max-turns-30-the-sneaker-giantbets-big-on-its-next-generation/ --- OR --Read a different book that has the same level of substance as Shoe Dog that focuses in detail on the growth, changes, leadership, etc. of an organization that aligns with your group’s interests. For example, Creativity Inc. by Ed Catmull about Pixar is an option. If you have another book in mind, please simply ask me and we’ll work it out. Choose one you’d love to read! --- OR --Using our class methods, analyze any organization (e.g., an organization in which any of you worked, or might want to work, or any other organization). Draw on sufficient publicly available information you can gather, e.g., through books or easily accessible articles. You DO NOT need to do any primary research. If you choose this option, please check with me to confirm your chosen organization and approach. Assignment: Final Case Analysis & Presentation (Your group will present only your chosen case.) Page 12 PEER CONTRIBUTION FORM For your Group members for your Case Analyses/Presentations - Turn in on course website before the class session with your presentations begins Note: This is to encourage positive, mutual team accountability and healthy contribution throughout your work together. You cannot help or harm your own grade by how you rate others. Your Group Number: ______ Your Name: Please use the following system to rate your group members: 0K + this member’s contribution was smaller than appropriate this member’s contribution was appropriate this member’s contribution was outstanding Delete the non-applicable ratings in the following table (i.e., each box should only have one of the three symbols: - or OK or + ) MEMBER MEMBER Members’ Names (Other than yourself) MEMBER MEMBER - - - OK + OK Any other comments? + OK + - OK + MEMBER MEMBER - - OK + OK +
