Curriculum and Course Schedule

Designed to be one of the first courses that students take, Foundations introduces concepts and frameworks that students will use throughout their time in the MSLOC Program and as LOC practitioners. Individual assessments are used to aid in self-understanding and teaming, as well as bolster the use of reflection as a personal learning tool. One-on-one coaching from professional coaches and MSLOC faculty also helps each student develop an individual learning plan designed to reflect their unique goals. The course's experiential learning component provides an introduction to talent development challenges and opportunities organizations face and how LOC concepts can be applied to provide solutions. Using the learning science models and design thinking practices introduced in the course, student teams are tasked with designing an action learning program and presenting said solution to human capital leadership at an MSLOC partner organization. Expected outcomes of the courses include a foundational understanding of various learning sciences, leadership development, personal awareness, public speaking, and design thinking frameworks.

(Part of the OLC Certificate)

This course addresses human performance at the individual level with an emphasis on understanding how adults learn and change as well as the dimensions that foster learning and optimal employee performance in organizations. Accelerating Learning and Performance will build your proficiency as a coach or practitioner in using developmental leadership tools to diagnose performance gaps/enhancement opportunities and increase employee as well as one’s own personal effectiveness in the workplace. Students engage in an experiential team project that applies the course content to a current learning culture challenge in an organization of the student team’s choice. Expected course outcomes are to understand what learning means as an individual, how to diagnose and solution for learning challenges individuals face in the workplace, how to help organizations focus on learning as a competitive advantage, and personal and professional self-growth.

Advancing Learning and Performance Solutions explores human performance at the team level, examining team learning as a driver of both team and organizational performance. Teams are a fundamental learning unit in modern organizations and a key source of competitive advantage in continuously changing environments. This course will introduce tools to analyze, improve, and measure team processes and effectiveness. The course has a combined focus on practice and theory anchored in research. Students will complete an individual research project and a student team business case project to advance their skills in identifying complex team challenges and recommending and evaluating solutions. Expected course outcomes are proficiency in techniques to diagnose organizational team challenges, improve team dynamics, build sustainable solutions, and to utilize academic literature and research for professional application as well as the MSLOC Capstone requirement.

(Part of the DOE Certificate)

In Creating and Sharing Knowledge, students will develop an understanding of how to define knowledge within organizational settings and how it applies to individuals and communities or networks of practitioners. A significant focus is placed on assessing how knowledge is created, shared, and leveraged in organizations and the role of technology in enabling those practices. Application of course concepts to current organizational issues is achieved through various case studies as well as a team course project in which students diagnose and design a technological solution to transform creating and sharing practices for a global organization. Expected course outcomes include the ability to define knowledge in workplace settings, awareness of the impact of communities and social networks, enhancement of personal digital literacy and innovative digital learning models, ability to assess opportunities for digital solutions to organizational challenges and the development of social technology solutions that address strategic needs of an organization.

(Part of the LEIO Certificate)

This course serves as an introduction to strategic change and will provide students with fundamental change models, concepts, and tools for facilitating strategic change in various organizational contexts. Students will examine how to identify organizational change needs, select appropriate models and steps to utilize, build a change strategy, and measure change impact all through the lens of a change agent and leader. In addition, the challenges associated with change implementation and adoption are examined. Various business case studies are explored in which individual students and student teams will conduct critical change analysis and strategy recommendations. Expected course outcomes include the practical application of strategic change models to business challenges, adoption of a proactive stance to barriers to strategic change, and the ability to understand the challenges and complexities of incorporating significant change at the individual, team, and organizational levels.

(Prerequisites: Completion of Core Classes)

The purpose of Capstone 1 is to help you develop LOC expertise, critical thinking, and analytical skills while engaging in an evidence-based organizational change project of your own choosing. In this process, this course will build your skills in defining an important practical problem and begin to refine your understanding of the potential causes and consequences of the problem based on a review of the practitioner and scientific literature. You’ll also interview practitioners about the problem and learn how to assess multiple forms of evidence. Finally, you will develop a discovery plan to gather evidence about the assumed problem and potential solutions. This process aims to develop your skills as an evidence-based practitioner in the pursuit of your professional and organizational goals.

(Prerequisite: 461 Capstone 1)

Building upon the foundation laid in Capstone 1 (MSLOC 461), this course takes you one step closer to becoming an expert in evidence-based organizational change. Not only will you gain experience in data collection, but you also will refine your ability to detect and produce credible knowledge. The course delves into applied data collection and analysis techniques, with learning focused on descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and ANOVA to extract valuable insights about quantitative data. You also will learn the art of crafting data visualizations that can help you produce recommendations from your analyses. Throughout this course, you will use your skills to advance your ongoing evidence-based organizational change project, bringing it to life with relevant data collection and astute analysis.

(Prerequisite: 462 Capstone 2)

Capstone 3 moves beyond data collection and analysis to develop your ability to create compelling and persuasive consulting-style documents that support and influence decision-making in change management contexts. The course begins with a discussion of how to effectively integrate insights from quantitative and qualitative data to support your change effort goals. We proceed with discussions of best practices for the visualization of quantitative and qualitative data and the communication of key insights as actionable recommendations. We culminate with the presentation of your final capstone project deliverable.

MSLOC 415 is a joint class with the Master of Science in Applied Economics and Social and Economic Policy (MSSEP) that explores individual, organizational, and social factors that influence how leadership is defined and enacted in organizations. This exploration highlights theories and models of effective leadership, providing opportunities to build knowledge, develop your own perspectives, and practice the leadership skills necessary to face the challenges of leading organizations for positive impact in complex environments. We will explore the concept of leadership as a set of organizational responsibilities that are socially conditioned and shaped by different cultural values, social contexts, and individual identities. Readings and activities will cover leadership issues such as: aligning and articulating connections among organization mission, strategy, and culture; recognizing and countering bias to support evidence-based decisions, inclusion, and equity; modeling emotional intelligence; and developing and inspiring new, emerging leaders.

(Part of the LEIO Certificate)

To effectively lead workplace initiatives that support the global needs of organizations and their diverse employees, customers, and stakeholders, LOC professionals must have a solid understanding of how individual identities and institutional/structural inequities impact experiences in organizations. In this course, students are expected to analyze and discuss bias, discrimination, power, privilege, and oppression on individual and systemic levels. Students should be prepared to explore and discuss their own individual-level identities (e.g., race, gender, LGBTQ+, age, ethnicity, class, culture, etc.) as well as their own lived or witnessed experiences with inclusion, exclusion, belonging, bias, harassment, ally support, bystander actions/inactions, etc. By the end of this course, students will know how to engage in thoughtful discussions and problem-solving about impacts of social identities, apply developmental theory to themselves and teams/groups, identify and analyze the impact of power structures on the micro levels, and act as a strategic partner and advocate to advance an organizational culture of inclusion, equity, and engagement.

Throughout their career, LOC professionals are often called to formulate a strategy to address emerging challenges and opportunities, think and act as a strategic leader to support the organization’s strategic intent, drive needed change, and develop a people strategy that aligns with the organization’s strategy. Leading With Strategic Thinking is designed to prepare LOC practitioners to successfully tackle such requests. Expected outcomes of this course include the ability to apply cognitive psychology, systems thinking, and game theory principles to the assessment of surrounding context when formulating and executing a strategy, apply strategic leadership behaviors to organizational development, incorporate LOC principles and considerations into strategy formulation and execution and properly evaluate an enterprise-wide strategic plan to identify and solve for potential limitations.

(Part of the DOE Certificate), (Prerequisite: 431 Leading with Strategic Thinking)

Designing Organizations takes an extended look at the concepts and frameworks commonly used by organization design practitioners and talent management leaders. Exploring these models highlights how to facilitate an organizational redesign, including how to diagnose the system, imagine design possibilities, and construct processes for change. Students will apply these concepts to business cases to increase their ability to facilitate the work of leadership teams in solving implementation challenges posed by a variety of strategic imperatives. By the end of this course, students will have an in-depth understanding of and how to apply organizational design models, how to diagnosis organizational design needs and craft appropriate solutions, how talent management and organizational design interest, and the metrics used to evaluate organizational design initiatives.

MSLOC 441 Designing Sustainable Strategic Change focuses on utilizing components of design thinking to develop organizational changes that are sustained over time in rapidly changing complex environments. Topics covered include an overall model of sustainable change, how the design process and design thinking integrate with organizational change principles and methodologies, using qualitative research to design change problems and build a case for change, participatory methods for strategic planning and large-scale systems change, and power/politics and coalition-building in the change process. Expected course outcomes are to understand how to increase an organizations capability for adaptability and innovation through non-traditional change management processes and data gathering, recognize the dynamics of culture in discovery, design, and success of sustainable organizational change and optimizing design tools and methods in the service of planning intended long-lasting change at multiple levels of the system.

(Part of the LEIO Certificate)

Leading Global Change focuses on the application of change management methods to organizational contexts that require cross-cultural competence. Students will develop an awareness of the demands that leaders face when designing and implementing solutions that impact individuals from multiple countries and diverse backgrounds. This course begins with the development of cross-cultural competency and self-awareness to enhance students' knowledge of cultural differences and the impact that biases have on performance in teams and organizations. Strategies are then discussed that can be applied to maximize success during global organization change initiatives. Students will apply what they are learning to design a change adoption process and plan that would be required for a multinational organization change initiative. By the end of the course, students will have developed a global mindset, the ability to assess and build organizational agility, diversity, and cross-cultural competence in the workplace, know how to overcome challenges of change complexity when working in multinational companies and ultimately how to lead effectively in global organizations.

(LEIO Certificate cohort members only)

This course focuses on understanding and practicing the critical elements of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Justice (DEIJ) work: assessment, strategic planning, initiative alignment, measurement, and changing an organization’s system. In doing so, students will build awareness about the auxiliary components and supporting practices related to DEIJ, such as talent management, leadership development, and employee/business resource group deployment. Throughout the quarter, students will apply the theories and perspectives examined in this course to critically examine the current state of diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice in work settings. Expected courses outcomes include the ability to understand the range of social justice requests and initiatives that you may encounter as a practitioner, properly assess an organization’s current level of engagement and commitment to fostering DEIJ and build a strategic plan and roadmap that build diversity and inclusive practices into the fabric of the organization’s operations.

(Part of the OLC Certificate)

In this course, students are introduced to advanced methods and tools used in collaborative coaching and consulting engagements. Students will learn and practice the fundamental competencies related to engaging clients, including how to build rapport, leverage active listening, how to establish a trusting environment, and collaboratively solve problems with the client as well as how to maintain long-term business relationships. The course will also take an in-depth look at communication skills and how to adapt appropriately to the necessary steps in the client relationship. Expected outcomes of the course include understanding the buying and selling cycle as well as client engagement phases, ability to address key issues that arise in client work, a greater self-awareness of one’s communication style and how to use it effectively, confidence in promoting one’s expertise and the advancement of critical thinking and problem solving skills to be adept at responding “in the moment” to client demands.

Cognitive design is about understanding human cognition—drawing from the fields of cognitive psychology and behavioral economics — to design solutions that bolster the achievement of personal and organizational goals. Throughout this course, students will learn how the mind works, its many biases and heuristics as well as how to overcome the mind’s decision-making flaws. Ultimately, with a better understanding of what influences human judgments, decisions, and actions, LOC practitioners can design impactful processes and programs for employees and organizations. Students will work on project teams to tackle a current business decision challenge of their choice that is governed by biases to design a cognitive framework for improved organizational decision making. Expected outcomes of this course include understanding how the human mind makes judgments and decisions, advanced design thinking strategies, and how to build mechanisms that can help overcome cognitive biases and improve performance and decision making in organizations.

(OLC Certificate cohort members only)

Grounded in theory and research on adult learning and instructional methods, this course will equip students with both a deeper understanding of how a variety of coaching techniques can improve individual learning and performance as well as the evidence-based knowledge necessary to design effective coaching/mentoring programs at the organizational level. Examining best practices, assessments, tools and methods used by professional coaches, the instructors will help students hone their consulting skills and learn how to adapt methods to meet the needs of diverse clients and contexts. By the end of this course, students will learn to assess organizational readiness for using coaching as an intervention, gain skills in multiple approaches of executive coaching, and identify and practice the components of the coaching relationship.

(OLC Certificate cohort members only)

Coaching Fieldwork is an opportunity for students to continue their coaching skill development under the guidance of a master coach who will mentor them throughout the quarter. Students will also identify and take on two individual clients to coach during the quarter. Throughout the course, students will continue to build their digital coaching portfolio that represents their coaching philosophy, the defining elements of their coaching practice, and evidence of their coaching effectiveness. By the end of this course, students will demonstrate the ability to contract with clients to address workplace learning/performance needs, apply the concepts and frameworks from prior courses to develop coaching plans and engage in impactful coaching conversations, reflect upon their coaching experiences (and the experiences shared by their peers) and articulate how these experiences confirm/contradict models and concepts introduced in MSLOC courses.

(Part of the DOE Certificate)

MSLOC 455 focuses on solving organizational challenges by applying data to make evidence-based recommendations and guide decisions. This course highlights issues-based consulting as a framework to ground learning about data in the work of LOC practitioners. Culture, engagement, and social network analysis (SNA) surveys are featured as examples of organizational data. The class provides introductions to these methods along with opportunities to explore data samples, generate evidence-based insights, and make practical recommendations. A multi-component case project guides student development of consulting skills and techniques for interpreting and presenting results to senior leadership. The course also explores what types of questions can be effectively answered using data and the ethical considerations of using data to solve organizational problems. By the end of this course, students will be adept at identifying and measuring LOC business issues, telling stories with data to persuasively and effectively to inform organizational decisions, and utilizing concepts and theories on culture, engagement, and SNA for organizational recommendations.

(DOE Certificate cohort members only)

Through the first three academic quarters of the DOE Certificate sequence, students follow MSLOC design methodologies to facilitate the ongoing development of a culmination project, a case that defines a strategic organizational effectiveness problem for a real-life organization and proposes and tests an innovative, enterprise-level solution. In this course, you will put the final touches on your solution design and develop a plan to use an iterative process that relies on prototypes or experiments to gather fast feedback during the early stages of implementation. The course will include feedback and critique on your solution and plans from your Certificate cohort peers, your mentor, and instructors. Expected course outcomes are to be able to synthesize and apply concepts from previous courses and co-curricular activities, complete an innovation solution design and implementation plan for an organization, demonstrate expertise in applying design practices to strategic challenges, and publish a case study to your Certification e-portfolio to showcase your solution innovation and thought leadership.

Discovering & Designing Innovation is a collaborative, project-based learning experience designed to field-test students’ abilities to apply MSLOC course concepts. Each year the MSLOC Department works with business and nonprofit partners to identify critical problems they face in learning, change, knowledge management, and strategy. The process yields challenging assessment and design projects addressed by student teams during the course. By working on a project, students will develop the ability to analyze organizational challenges in new and different ways, explicitly using models and skills learned in MSLOC; deepen their expertise in the practice of specific areas of interest from MSLOC courses; broaden their experience through exposure to different organizational settings and become reflective practitioners.

Independent Study projects are opportunities for exceptional MSLOC students to conduct in-depth research on a specific topic of interest under the direction of an MSLOC faculty advisor. Project proposals require the approval of the MSLOC Program Director.