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AGS News & Events! 

 

Congratulations: 

 

Interview:  Robert Szerwo: awarded the Master of Arts in Organizational Transformation

and continues on to his PhD

 

Stephanie Galindo, M.Ed., Student Dean:  15 years at Adizes Graduate School

 

Adizes SouthEast Europe 20th Anniversary Gala

 

Upcoming Opportunities:

 

New Online Classes this Fall:  Strategic Planning; Supply Chain Management    

 

International News:

 

 Dr. Ichak Adizes at the World Economic Forum (video)

Blog:  Dr. Adizes on Change and its Repercussions for Leadership 

 

A visit from the Kyiv-Mohyla Business School (KMBS) Executive AgroMBA class on their International Study Tour

 

Happening Now:  June 18-19 Breakthrough to Prime! workshop in Mexico City

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AGS News & EventsSpring News 2014
AGS Brochure 

Click for a Brochure

Plan now for September ... why wait? 

 
Quotable Quotes (from the Spring 2014 Vision & Values course)  

This was my first time with this way of learning (online)....a new experience that was truly fantastic. I liked having the opportunity to express myself ...I personally managed to sort out and prioritize my values which benefits me professionally, as well.

 

The course was inspiring in so many ways. First of all, I had never thought of the importance of values so much. Then, the course made me really implement my personal values in all aspects of my life. It provided great help in changing the Vision of the organization that I work for, and my inspiration transferred to my colleagues.

 

Interested in earning your degree online?  Visit our website and or contact Admissions at [email protected] for application details. 

ASEE 20th

Anniversary
 
Adizes SouthEast Europe celebrated its 20-year anniversary with a gala mixer in Novi Sad, Serbia. 235 people from more than 35 companies attended. At least half were CEO's or founders of business, culture, NGO, faculty, and media enterprises, according to Dr. Zvezdan Horvat and Boris Vukic (below), Senior Adizes Associates. Guests came from Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia.

  Boris Vukic  

The event was hosted on a local farm where a unique exhibition of posters (provided by guests) hung in the trees to illustrate where they started (including their garage!) and how far they had come in their business enterprise. 

  

  Posters in the Trees

After the official part of the program, guests enjoyed the local food, drink, and music interpreted by well-known Serbian traditional singers and orchestras.

 

 

 Later in the evening, special guests continued on to an atelier at the ancient Petrovaradin Fortress (over 1000 years old). The next day everyone enjoyed discussions on rewards in the telecommunications industry, internet trends, and Dr. Horvats' thesis on the organizational lifecycle. Dr. Horvat completed his PhD at the University of Novi Sad, School of Technical Sciences in 2013.

 

Congratulations to

 Adizes SouthEast Europe!

 

 

 AGS Student Dean

Congratulations on 15 Years
 
 Stephanie Galindo, M.Ed., celebrated both her birthday and 15 years working at Adizes Graduate School in mid-March this year.  

 

When AGS was founded in 1994, non-traditional higher education students attended face-to-face seminars and then completed supervised internships in their home countries. In 1999, AGS created its first entirely online degree programs: a Master of Arts leading to a Ph.D. in Organizational Transformation. 

 

Ms. Galindo was one of the founding employees responsible for the approval, implementation, and deployment of the online graduate degree programs. Over the years she developed many admission and orientation protocols, policies and processes for the online campus; managed the software platform, website, and technical transitions; assisted with curriculum development, marketing, and created the first e-newsletters.

 

Soon after the launch, Ms. Galindo began to focus more directly on improving the student experience. She took on the role of Student Dean and worked closely with faculty as Director of Academic Services.

 

During her tenure at AGS, Ms. Galindo earned a graduate certificate in Managing Curriculum from the University of Leicester (UK, 2002); a Masters' Degree at American InterContinental University (2005), worked on an MBA-PM, and then transferred to a doctorate in Higher Education Leadership and Learning at Aspen University. She hopes to complete the doctorate in 2015 and then finish off the MBA.

 

The Adizes Graduate School has grown and now offers four Master degrees, six Doctorates, dual-track Masters-Doctoral programs, and three Certificate programs. AGS offers both theory-based programs and professional programs that include practitioner training in deploying the Adizes methodology for managing organizational change and transformation.

 

For the past few years, AGS partnered with a European graduate school to offer online courses in Vision and Values, and in Group Dynamics. A number of schools overseas offer courses in Adizes methodology.

 

In addition, AGS offers fundamental courses in traditional management theory, business administration, and electives in research and writing methods, one of which was designed and co-taught by Ms. Galindo with Dr. Bruce Larue. Ms. Galindo and Dr. LaRue also co-authored a chapter titled Synthesizing Higher Education and Corporate Learning Strategies in the Handbook of Online Learning published by SAGE in 2010.

 

Ms. Galindo enjoys helping prospective students align their personal and professional objectives with their academic goals. She can be reached at Stephanie at Adizes.com.

NEW ONLINE COURSES
this Fall at
Adizes Graduate School
(enrollment deadline 8/8)
  
Strategic Planning
(5 week elective begins 9/15/14)
 
Supply Chain Management
(5 week elective begins 10/27/14)
 
Both courses apply to the
Masters Degree in Symbergetic Business Administration (MSBA)
 

Strategic Planning

 

Students learn the tools and analytical techniques that managers need to assess and formulate effective strategies for their organizations. The focus is on analyzing and diagnosing business problems as well as developing and implementing effective strategic solutions. Topics include

  • strategic analysis,

  • industry analysis,

  • value chains,

  • core competencies,

  • competitor analysis,

  • scenario analysis,

  • portfolio analysis,

  • option analysis,

  • and game theory.

 

Principles of Supply Chain Management

 

The course focuses on managing material and information flows across functional and organizational boundaries. The course emphasizes the "general manager's perspective" in supply chains. The course illustrate that barriers to integrating supply chains often relate to behavioral issues (e.g., misaligned incentives and change management challenges) and operational execution problems that fall squarely in the domain of the general manager. The course makes clear that suitable information technology and knowledge of analytical tools are necessary, but not sufficient, ingredients for supply chain integration. The course includes discussions on Logistics, Planning, Incentive Alignment and Operational Execution in four modules.

 

 
New student Applications for all programs are being accepted
now for the Fall Term. Enrollment closes August 8, 2014.


 For information on all Adizes Graduate School programs,

contact: 

 Stephanie at Adizes.com or

Demelza at Adizes.com 

 

Applying to AGS is FREE!
 
Why wait?
 
faces-color
 
To apply to the School, visit the Application page of the AGS website

Dr. Ichak Adizes at the 2014

WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM

 

Dr. Ichak Kalderon Adizes was recently asked to be part of a prestigious panel at the 2014 Sberbank Business Breakfast at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The subject of the event was State Institutions or A Strong Government: What is More Important for Economic Growth?

 

The invitation-only meeting brought together chief executive officers, selected politicians, and representatives from academia, NGO's, religious organizations and the media. Dr. Adizes was the featured speaker and his session generated much interest and exposure among Eastern European Europe's biggest movers and shakers.

 

Joining Dr. Adizes on the panel were:

 

Alexey Ulyukaev, Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation

 

Anatoly Chubais, former Prime Minister of Russia and Chairman of the Executive Board of Rusnano

 

Kirill Dmitriev, CEO at Russian Direct Investment Fund

 

Kenneth Rogoff, Professor of Economics at Harvard University

 

Click below for the YouTube video of Dr. Adizes presentation (begins about 2 minutes into the film)

 

Click here

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Touring the AGS Campus

with Dr. Ichak Adizes

 

The Adizes Institute hosted the Kyiv-Mohyla Business School (KMBS) Executive AgroMBA class on their International Study Tour.  Participants included top managers from Ukrainian agricultural companies.

 

As part of the tour, attendees visited the Adizes Institute and Graduate School offices in Santa Barbara County and an Adizes Institute consulting client located in Los Angeles, California.

 

Business school participants visited a $3 billion international company and operator of one of the largest farms in the world.  Dr. Adizes and the company's founder hosted the group and answered questions on how they leveraged the Adizes Methodology to grow from generating $12 million in sales to sales of $3.5 billion at present. 

 

Participants were very happy to see first-hand how the Adizes Methodology can be applied within the agriculture industry.

Master of Arts in Organizational Transformation...conferred

... interview and special Thank You's 

 

The Adizes Graduate School is honored to announce that Robert Szerwo has completed all of the requirements for a
Master of Arts Degree in Organizational Transformation

  

Mr. Robert Szerwo earned the Master of Arts degree in May 2014 upon completing all ten courses of the degree program and passing the comprehensive examination. The five-hour proctored exam consisted of questions posed by faculty members which required written, referenced responses. Mr.Szerwo has been enrolled in the dual-track MA/PhD program and will now continue on to finish his Ph.D.  

 

Thank you to the Grading Committee:  The Adizes Graduate School would like to thank Dr. Bruce LaRue, Dr. Dan Axelrod, Dr. Janet Durgin, and Dr. Kim Amaya for their support and contributing subject expertise in the examination process. 

 

Interview:  AGS recently interviewed Mr. Szerwo ....We asked....

 

AGS:  You began the AGS MA/PhD program with a Bachelors in Economics from UCSB, several Certifications, and decades of experience in the financial sector. You had just retired as CFO of a company operating in five western states with nearly 3000 employees and annual sales of $200 million. At that time you said,

 

My experience has shown me that difficulties in management typically come about through communication and cooperation problems within the company. My purpose is to broaden my base of organizational knowledge and to improve my performance in a business environment

 

What are your professional goals now and do they still relate to earning your PhD, or is the PhD a more personal target?

  

RS:  I feel that my professional and personal goals have become more aligned, and that means earning the PhD is more of a personal target.  I think that my business focus or perspective has changed to business being a supporting role instead of a dominant role in my life. I do look forward to "un-retiring" again, as I appreciate the practice of organizing and producing value that helps individuals and societies.     

 
AGS: Your early retirement initially provided an opportunity for higher education, but you were surprised by the birth of twin daughters, you began a new career (co-owning a winery!), and persisted through a fair number of personal crises. Balancing so many priorities and challenges was definitely tough; how did you find the motivation to continue pursuing your education as you continued term-to-term?
  

RS:  Motivation to continue seems to come from a basic desire to keep learning. I think that it [the learning effort] is actually a stabilizing element in my life. To a greater or lesser extent, all those things you mention happening to me also happen to all of us, and the journey can be quite painful if there is not an element of learning involved! The formality of attending graduate school or earning a professional certification seems to have become one of my personal growth rituals.   

 

AGS: In our Orientation program we advise our students to schedule time for family plus blocks of uninterrupted time for study each week, to create a regular weekly schedule while classes are in session - just like they are going to a traditional on-ground campus. Of course, being online, this is flexible. Your grades were excellent. How did you manage your time during the online classes?  What was your study strategy?

 

RS:  The AGS strategy is certainly a good one, but adhering to it is another matter! My strategy was less structured than AGS might advise, but most important was finding time somewhere in each week to really focus on and think about the material. The other important part of my approach was to try to relate class material to my work and personal life, not just to consider it as class work. That helped to make it relevant and interesting, and there were some surprises when classes really changed my perspective!

 

AGS: Historically, the dissertation writing stage of a doctoral degree is the most difficult for students because there is less structure. Finding motivation to read and write is critical.  Now that you are "ABD" (all but dissertation), what is your study strategy for managing this last phase of your academic journey?

 

Managing the dissertation will be interesting! What I think has helped so far has been the interaction with the class instructors and students. The environment of constructive learning and feedback has a social element that I enjoy. The dissertation phase becomes much more of a solitary effort, and maintaining a sense of a community becomes more difficult as the areas of knowledge become more specific. I think that a sense of social involvement may be more important to finishing than creating a research structure!

        

AGS:  Thank you very much for sharing your insights. We hope to offer some elective courses to help keep everyone more engaged and to facilitate brainstorming as well as to nurture the actual work being done through the dissertation writing process. We hope to survey all of our PhD students soon to find out more about supporting your journey!

 

Congratulations to Mr. Szerwo

from the staff and faculty of Adizes Graduate School!

 

On to the Ph.D.....

 

Mr. Szerwo is a dual-track MA/PhD student.  This means that his primary end-goal has always been the Ph.D. in Organizational Transformation. At AGS, students are encouraged to pursue dissertation work very early in their program. After completing courses in Epistemology, Spiral Dynamics, Adizes Leadership Tools for Managing Change, and Research Methods, Mr. Szerwo took an elective course in Writing a Concept Paper and presented his Research Proposal. Mr. Szerwo received preliminary approval from Dr. Ichak Adizes for dissertation work focused on developing, measuring, and improving trust in organizational settings. In his proposal Mr. Szerwo said:

  

Ph.D. Research Proposal:  A number of authors in the management field emphasize trust in some form as being necessary to make conflict productive instead of destructive. Examples include:

  • Mastering Change, the power of mutual trust and respect in personal life, family life, business and society, (Adizes, 1992, p. 155): "If you want symbiotic, friendly, win-win climate, you must have mutual trust."
  • Overcoming the five dysfunctions of a team: A field guide for leaders, managers and facilitators, (Lencioni, 2005, p. 13): Lencioni's most basic issue deals with trust, "Based on my experience working with teams during the past ten years or so, I've come to one inescapable conclusion: no quality or characteristic is more important than trust."
  • The Speed of Trust, the one thing that changes everything (Covey, 2006, p. 2): regarding trust, "It changes the quality of every present moment and alters the trajectory and outcome of every future moment of our lives, both personally and professionally".

From a research perspective trust is a homonymy because of the breadth of meanings associated with it, called constructs. D. McKnight and M. Chervany (1996) for the Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota, identified six major constructs of trust but recognize that these are not fully comprehensive. 

 

This research will present trust in a way that particular constructs will be emphasized because of their possible organizational relevance. By carefully defining the particular constructs of trust that may be impacted by an organization's management, and by researching how to measure and report on those constructs, a practical model may be developed to facilitate managing trust in the organizational context.

 

The intent is to operationalize improving organizational trust and to present qualitative measures to assist in assessing the levels of organizational trust. To build trust, consideration of the qualitative assessments and the dynamic tensions that the assessments represent will be researched for potential improvements to organizational effectiveness. Documenting shifts in the level of perceived trust may offer the opportunity to reflect and rethink approaches for continual monitoring or refinement. Support for the various perspectives that an organization may encounter among its participants will be included.

 

Professionals interested in earning a Masters or Doctoral Degree in Organizational Transformation may contact Stephanie or Demelza at Adizes.com or visit our website for details...
 

Change and its Repercussions for Leadership
by Dr. Ichak Kalderon Adizes
(Dr. Adizes Managerial Insight, 24/1/14)
 
Ichak-A  
  

While change has been ever-present for millions of years, today, it has taken on a role in our lives that is far more formidable... and even dangerous. We now tend to find ourselves at a loss, unable to respond (to change) adequately or within a necessary time frame. In short, we are overwhelmed.

 

Partly, this is because the nature of change has taken on a different face. It has been affected drastically and irreversibly by three factors: speed, frequency and interdependence.

 

Let me start with speed. Change keeps accelerating with a kind of continuous velocity, that makes it difficult to pause so that we can adapt and adjust to, let alone embrace, the rapid new forces that have come to define us and our society.

 

It is different from earlier forms of change, not only in terms of frequency and rapidity, but in its very nature. It is multi-faceted. Multi-disciplinary. And very much interconnected. All macro subsystems suddenly seem to overlap, from technology to economics and politics to the socio-cultural environment. And change in one sector of our society delivers repercussions that are felt in other areas within a very short period of time.

 

Take the internet, a technological innovation which has changed the nature of retailing (an economic impact); of education (a social impact); and of information-sharing which has mobilized people to change governments (a political impact).

 

This high velocity and interdependence leads to a world that has become increasingly complex, with accompanying problems that are exceedingly difficult to solve. The solutions themselves require approaches simultaneously applied by men and women from different disciplines. Nor is that always sufficient. Timing is often of essence when making a decision today, because by the time a solution is at hand, ready for implementation, the environment has already changed. Many of the facts (and situations) have become outdated or irrelevant.

 

When change occurs we need to make a decision. Often quickly. What shall we do about the "new event" that was caused by change. Since it is new, there is by definition uncertainty confronting the decision maker. The decision made needs to be implemented and that means undertaking risk. It might work. It might not.

 

In this new complex environment we live in, then, uncertainty and risk are heightened significantly. They have caused the demise of many corporations. Corporate leaders, deprived of what they consider sufficient advance notice, have suddenly found themselves awash in trouble faster than anything they experienced in the past.  The same pattern applies to nation-states. I leave you to fill in the names of countries.

 

The result is CEO's and heads of state alike are faced with totally new forms of complexity without past experience to guide them. The latest American financial crisis is a case in point. The crisis came as a surprise. No one expected it. Neither the Department of Treasury, nor the President's Economic Council, nor the Central Bank.

 

The US Federal government was forced to change its policies every few days. Why? Because it did not have a clear road map or understanding of the complexity of the situation. There was no ready solution, or even a formula at hand. It soon became clear that economic answers to the problem had unfortunate political and social repercussions. A solution that was palatable economically was viewed as impractical, if not unworkable, because it had political repercussions.

 

It should be noted that the problems confronting The European Union are even more complex inasmuch as they concern multiple nations, each with a different political form of governance and set of national interests, a separate national culture and its own cycles of change. Each nation is coping separately with an economic crisis that in practical terms ties them all together.

 

Is there a way to decrease the uncertainty and the risk?

 

From my experience of over forty years in consulting to corporations and leaders of countries, I would say emphatically, yes, there is.

 

On the corporate level, the starting point requires a new way of thinking, particularly with respect to organizations and the structure of leadership. Traditionally corporations structure their organization around a single leader. But today's complexity requires a complementary team of managers and collaborative leadership, rather than a single voice, joined together to find solutions to problems that can quickly cause a company to go under.

 

This is really a profound change in our present day construct of leadership and its importance cannot be overemphasized. It involves composing a team of creative entrepreneurs, risk adverse professionals and task-oriented technocrats who are cognizant of the importance of making and  implementing the decision in a timely fashion, and of  working collaboratively to arrive at a solution.

 

Why a complementary team? Because their different styles, and different judgments cross-pollinate one another. They begin with different ways of knowing (and understanding); and by complementing one another they reduce the degree of uncertainty. In the end they improve the quality of the decision itself.

 

Compare that to a decision rendered by say a single entrepreneur presiding over a task force under his or her command. He or she will probably make a decision with less information than a risk averse professional requires. On the other hand if the corporate leader is himself a risk averse specialist making the decision alone, he will take longer to decide... and the timing itself will likely be flawed.

 

In brief, complementary teams rather than single leaders turn out to be a far more effective way of leading corporations in times of complex change.

 

Now, what is needed to reduce risk?

 

Usually multiple groups (within a government or a corporation) are necessary for efficient, timely implementation of a decision. The problem is each group has its own interests. If the interests collide and there actually is no common interest, the probability that the decision will be implemented correctly is drastically reduced. The greater the degree of diversity in interests   among the necessary groups, the more difficult the implementation of a solution.

 

Let me restate:

 

In a chronic, accelerated, complex, changing environment, to make effective policy decisions, a complementary, collaborative, leadership is required. It in turn needs to be capable of building coalitions to secure common interests among the necessary parties for efficient implementation.

 

The above factors are necessary, but not sufficient since they carry a burden. On a corporate level a team of leaders with different styles seeking a common interest inevitably means that there will be conflict. From experience we know it is bound to happen among the interested parties, in part because of their different style.

 

On a macro or nation state level, there will be conflict too: the opposing political parties do not necessarily collaborate constructively. We recognize this in the acrimonious relationships between Democrats and Republicans in the United States. Their actions hamper the government's ability to function. In addition the nation's interest groups -in the US, for example, the industrial military complex, and in other countries, the Trade Unions- make it extremely difficult to reach common agreement on interests and needs...  See France, Greece. Spain.

 

How to make it work?

 

This is going to sound over-simplified. It is not. Far, far from it. I have devoted over forty years of my professional life studying what works when it comes to managing change effectively and efficiently, within corporations as well as governments. It is not a simple concept. It is simplified so it can be implemented. It has been tested successfully with hundreds of corporations worldwide and to a lesser degree with governments.

 

What is required at this point within the complementary team, up and down the corporate and political ladder, is mutual respect. Respect, as Emanuel Kant said, means to recognize the sovereignty of the other party to think differently.

 

When there is mutual respect there is a willingness to learn from each other. There is a greater tolerance for differences in opinion. Without arguments and collaboration shaped and governed by respect, a faulty and wrong decision will emerge and lots of energy will be wasted; or else -just as harmful- decisions will be deferred, bringing corporate and/or national decisions to a halt. Just like the latest budget debate in the American Congress.

 

To deal with the conflicts, which can be destructive when multiple interests are involved, is a bit more difficult. Mutual respect is not enough. Here we also need mutual trust.

 

Learn more.... see the complete article at: http://www.ichakadizes.com/change-and-its-repercussions-for-leadership/

 

 

***Reprint granted on the condition that a link to www.ichakadizes.com is provided.

 

To learn more about the Adizes methodology, consider earning your Masters or PhD at Adizes Graduate School.

BREAKTHROUGH TO PRIME WORKSHOP!

 

 June 18-19, 2014

Mexico City, Mexico

 

BREAKTHROUGH TO PRIME presents the cornerstones of the Adizes Methodology. These key knowledge points provide an opportunity to facilitate organizational performance at its highest capability.

 

The seminar is highly interactive. Participants experience the power of the Adizes Methodology firsthand and gain insight into how to successfully manage change in the public, private, and governmental sectors.

 

Participants tend to be creative thinkers and leaders who seek natural systems and unifying constructs that can influence their organizations, communities, and individual lives in positive ways.

 

For information on future seminars....

 

Contact  

 

Humberto.Padilla at Adizes.com

thinker - doer 
 
 

Visit the Adizes Graduate School website for educational opportunities!