IEM 5010 Leading and Managing Technology Implementation - Summer 2002
Instructor
Paul E. Rossler, Ph.D., P.E., Associate Professor, Industrial Engineering and Management
and Associate Director, Engineering and Technology Management
376 North Hall, 700 N. Greenwood Ave., Tulsa, 74106-0700
Office Phone: 918-594-8289; Home Phone: 918-241-2380
Email: prossle@okstate.edu; Fax: 918-594-8281
Course Website
http://www.okstate.edu/ceat/msetm/courses/iem5010LMTI/
Course Description
This course examines the major issues and challenges associated with successfully leading
and managing the implementation of new technology. Case study examples of successful and
not-so-successful projects are used to highlight and demonstrate fundamental leadership and
project management principles. Topics include project leadership, technical competence,
managing project teams and individual team members, and the roles played by organizational
structure, project funding, and politics.
Learning Objectives
 Increase your understanding and awareness of the key factors that increase the
probability of effective implementation and use of new technology (i.e., new
methods, processes, equipment, hardware, software).
 Know the characteristics of effective leaders and processes associated with new
technology initiatives.
 Relate the above knowledge to your own industry, company, and experience.
Course Schedule
Meeting/
Taping
Date
June 11
Thursday,
June 13
Tuesday,
June 25
Tuesday,
July 9
Topic
A Funny Thing
Happened on the Way
to the Forum.
Getting Stuck. Getting
Out.
Personalities,
Processes, and Politics.
Tuesday,
July 23
Change, Change,
Change.
Tuesday,
August 1
Reading
Various journal articles
and book excerpts
Alexander’s The
Endurance
Sobel’s Longitude and
Watson’s The Double
Helix
Roger’s Diffusion of
Innovations
Select journal articles
Takahashi’s Inside the
Xbox
1
Essay Due Dates
Live &
CDROM or
CV
Tape
June 20
June 27
July 2
July 9
July 16
July 23
July 30
August 6
August 6
August 13
Required Reading (to be supplemented at times by journal articles and book excerpts)
Alexander, C., The Endurance: Shackleton's legendary Antarctic expedition. 1998, New
York: Knopf.
Sobel, D., Longitude: The true story of a lone genius who solved the greatest scientific
problem of his time. 1996, New York: Penguin.
Watson, J.D. and L. Bragg, The double helix: A personal account of the discovery of the
structure of DNA. Reissue ed. 1991: New American Library.
Rogers, E.M., Diffusion of innovations. 4th ed. 1995, New York: The Free Press.
Takahashi, D., Opening the Xbox: Inside Microsoft's plan to unleash an entertainment
revolution. 2002: Roseville, CA: Prima Publishing.
Recommended Reading (But Not Required)
Christensen, C.M., The innovator's dilemma. 2000, New York: Harperbusiness.
DeMarco, T., Slack: Getting past burnout, busywork, and the myth of total efficiency (New
York: Broadway Books, 2001).
DeMarco, T. and T. Lister, Peopleware: Productivity projects and teams (2nd Ed.) (New
York: Dorset Hourse Publishing Co., 1999).
Fine, C.H., Clockspeed : Winning industry control in the age of temporary advantage. 1999:
Perseus.
Kidder, T., The soul of a new machine. Reprint ed. 1997, New York: Modern Library.
Kharbanda, O.P. and J.K. Pinto, What made Gertie gallop? Lessons from project failures.
1996, New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Moody, F., I sing the body electronic: A year with Microsoft on the multimedia frontier (New
York: Viking, 1995).
Squires, A., The tender ship: Governmental management of technological change. 1986.
Performance Expectations
Earning an A in this course requires that you 1) prepare for class; 2) take responsibility for
you own learning; 3) apply “criticial” thinking skills to the ideas and concepts presented, and
4) write well-thought-out, well-written, carefully argued essays.
Essays
Five, short (3 page) essays, each worth 20 points are due on or before the dates shown in the
course schedule. Essays must be written in Word (or its equivalent) and submitted
electronically via email to prossler@prodigy.net. Essys must be single spaced with one-inch
margins, and typed in Times New Roman 12 point font. Files are to be named “your last
name essay #.doc.” For example, rossler1.doc or rossler2.doc. The subject line in your e-mail
must match your filename.
Essays are graded and returned within ten days of submission. Please DO NOT phone or
send e-mails asking if I received your essay. If you have not received a graded essay ten days
after you had submitted it, then resubmit it.
DO NOT title your essay or put your name on it. DO NOT include a cover page or repeat the
essay question.
2
1 – Based on the assigned readings, other things you have read, and your own experience,
please answer the following questions: Why do many new technology initiatives either fail to
deliver all that’s been promised or fail to deliver altogether? What can a leader do to reduce
or eliminate the probability of failure (or outright disaster) of a new technology or change
initiative? What things can be done by those who are not in a position of power?
2 – Based on Alexander’s account other things you have read, and your own experience,, was
Shakelton a good leader? In what ways do new technology or change initiatives parallel that
of Shakleton’s and his crew’s experience? What lessons can be learned from this experience
that apply to leading and managing new technology initiatives today?
3 –Based on Sobel’s account of John Harrison, Watson’s account of the discovery of DNA,
other things you have read, and your own experience, what are the characteristics of an
effective (or ineffective) new technology or development effort? How should new
technology or development efforts be designed, managed, and led? How should a leader or
manager deal with, for example,“John Harrison” types or a James Watson-Rosalind Frankin
type of personality conflict?
4 – Based on Rogers’ summary of the innovation research, other things you have read, and
your own experience, how does (or should) a leader go about increasing the probability of
innovation and change? Why should a leader embrace resistance to change? When and how
should a leader resist change?
5 – To what degree does Takahashi’s account of Microsoft’s Xbox effort reflect the ideas,
concepts, or principles identified by various authors in the course readings, by yourself in
your other essays, and discussed by us throughout this course? What are those key ideas,
concepts, and principles? What is your action plan for improving your ability to lead and
manage new technology or change initiatives?
WildCard – For any of the above essays, you may write on a question (or questions) of your
own choosing. However, you must get your question approved by the instructor. In addition,
your response to that question must be grounded in the course material.
3
Essay Grading Criteria (and Form)
Essay
Attributes
Key Quality Characteristics
Rating
Logical Flow and An obvious, clear, logical thread related the
Organization
essay’s thesis statement (or statement) to the
ideas and arguments presented in the essay and
the conclusion reached.
Strength of
Argument
Provided convincing evidence that the author
gave the subject matter serious thought. In
other words, informed opinions were shared as
opposed to simply opinions.
Critical Thinking Demonstrated the use of logical thinking,
Skills
numerical thinking, and systems thinking. The
author carefully chose the words used and
provided a solid basis for the claims made.
Use of Course
The essay demonstrated that the author had
Material
read and studied the assigned reading material
and considered class lecture material and
discussion..
Professionalism Report was free of typos, grammatical errors,
and diction errors..
4
Weight
20%
20%
20%
20%
20%
Weighted.
Score