Week 7 Assignment

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Course Alignment Chart

WMBA 6040: Improving Business Performance

University Learning Outcomes

I. Facilitate positive social change where they work, in their communities, and in society.

II. Use their knowledge to positively impact their profession, communities, and in society.

III. Demonstrate a commitment to lifelong learning. IV. Apply their learning to specific problems and challenges in their workplace and

professional settings. V. Demonstrate information literacy.*

VI. Demonstrate an understanding of the methods of inquiry used in their professional or academic field.

VII. Practice legal and ethical integrity in their professional work. VIII. Effectively communicate their ideas and the rationale behind them to others.

IX. Support diversity and multiculturalism within their profession, communities, and society.

*Information literacy is defined as the ability to know when there is a need for information, and being able to identify, locate, evaluate, and effectively use that information for the issue or problem at hand.

Program Learning Outcomes

1. Evaluate the environment in which businesses operate with awareness of complexities, interdependencies, risks, consequences, and diverse stakeholder perspectives

2. Make decisions within a business context that are effective, well-reasoned, ethical, and socially responsible

3. Formulate statements of business problems or opportunities that facilitate insightful dialogue and critical thinking

4. Generate solutions to complex business problems or opportunities through critical, creative, and systems thinking and applying appropriate theories, concepts, tools, skills, practices and research

5. Employ business-appropriate communication skills that enable effective exchange or transfer of information, promote mutual respect, encourage healthy

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discourse, and display an acute awareness of the needs of the intended audience

6. Demonstrate the ability to work with others to meet goals in diverse and complex business environments

7. Evaluate opportunities for business stakeholders, including oneself, to contribute to positive social change locally and globally

Course Learning Outcomes

1. Analyze systems thinking as a tool for gaining a holistic view of an organization

and its interrelationships 2. Apply systems thinking to address challenges and opportunities managers

encounter 3. Apply systems thinking to ethical reasoning 4. Communicate effectively using systems diagrams and performance thinking

relative to complex problems 5. Analyze a complex value creation system using management concepts 6. Create a plan for ongoing improvement and increased capability based on an

evaluation of systemic constraints. 7. Compare and contrast major approaches/paradigms to managing and improving

organizational performance

Weekly Objectives Alignment Chart

Week 1: Why Do Managers Need to Think About an Organization Like a “System”?

Met In (D#/A# /Other)

Course Outcome(s)

Program Outcome(s) University Outcome(s)

Apply key principles of systems thinking

D 2 1, 4

Analyze the potential differential impact of systems thinking on systems interconnectedness and performance

SP 1 1, 4

Evaluate systems interconnectedness

SP 1 1, 4

Week 2: Could Your Organization Have a “Learning Disability”?

Met In (D#/A# /Other)

Course Outcome(s)

Program Outcome(s) University Outcome(s)

Generate an improvement plan to a corporation’s ethics policies using a moral

D 3 2

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Week 2: Could Your Organization Have a “Learning Disability”?

Met In (D#/A# /Other)

Course Outcome(s)

Program Outcome(s) University Outcome(s)

imagination systems framework

Analyze the impact of “learning disabilities” on organizations and systems in meeting intended purposes and goals

SP 2 1, 4

Formulate strategies for preventing “learning disabilities” within organizations or systems

SP 2 1, 4

Perform simple gap analyses A 2 1, 4

Evaluate operations based on gap analysis

A 2 1, 4

Week 3: Why Do Managers Need to Be Looped In?

Met In (D#/A# /Other)

Course Outcome(s)

Program Outcome(s) University Outcome(s)

Apply systems thinking to management challenges

D 2, 4 1, 4, 5, 6

Apply single-, double-, and multiple-loop analyses

SP, A 2 1, 4

Analyze management challenges using feedback loops

A 2 1, 4

Week 4: Why Do Systems Often Surprise Us?

Met In (D#/A# /Other)

Course Outcome(s)

Program Outcome(s) University Outcome(s)

Differentiate the impact of detail and dynamic complexity on systems performance

SP 1 1, 4

Analyze real-world systems using common systems archetypes

A 5 4

Develop strategies for improving systems

A 7 4

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Week 5: What Happens When Disciplines Clash?

Met In (D#/A# /Other)

Course Outcome(s)

Program Outcome(s) University Outcome(s)

Analyze the impact of individual perceptions on decision making

D 7 4

Evaluate key concepts from The Goal through the framework of selected course outcomes

SP 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Week 6: Why is it Hard for Managers to Achieve Balance?

Met In (D#/A# /Other)

Course Outcome(s)

Program Outcome(s) University Outcome(s)

Analyze the impact of constraints on organizational performance

D 7 4

Evaluate key concepts from The Goal through the framework of selected course outcomes

SP 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Week 7: How Can You, as a Manager, Optimize Your Systems?

Met In (D#/A# /Other)

Course Outcome(s)

Program Outcome(s) University Outcome(s)

Apply a throughput accounting methodology to improve organizational decision-making outcomes

D 5 4

Evaluate key concepts from The Goal through the framework of selected course outcomes

SP 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Synthesize knowledge of applied systems thinking and performance management

BPPG , 7 4

Create goals for personal, professional, and organizational development using concepts related to systems thinking and organizational performance

BPPG 4, 6 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

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Week 8: How Can You Integrate Systems, Constraints, and Performance to be an Effective Manager?

Met In (D#/A# /Other)

Course Outcome(s)

Program Outcome(s) University Outcome(s)

Apply systems thinking and constraint management to management challenges

SP 1 1, 4

Evaluate systems approaches to managing and improving organizational performance

SP 7 4

Analyze a complex value creation system as represented in the case studies using management concepts

A 5, 6 2, 3, 4, 5

Analyze the impact of paradigms on organizational constraints and performance

A 7 4

Legend D = Discussion A = Assignment SP = Shared Practice BPPG = Blueprint for Professional and Personal Growth