Organizational Dynamics

The Master of Science in Organizational Dynamics (MSOD) is designed to develop the intellectual perspective of adult learners on today’s complex work environment. Our program allows you for the exploration of the practical applications needed to thrive and create positive change within a professional environment. The degree fuses research-based knowledge rooted in the arts and sciences with practical applications. This approach examines the subtleties of human behavior within existing systems, addresses multi-dimensional challenges and transforms organizational culture.

The Master of Philosophy (MPhil) in Organizational Dynamics is an advanced graduate degree designed for individuals who want to demonstrate applied scholarship beyond a master’s degree but who are not ready to, or may not wish to, apply for a doctoral program. The Master of Philosophy in Organizational Dynamics can serve as an important step in future PhD study preparation or simply as a way to deepen engagement with the topics studied in a previous master’s degree.

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Now showing 1 - 10 of 215
  • Publication
    Larry Starr Overview and Penn
    (2008-08-01) Starr, Larry
  • Publication
    Building Executive Coaching As An Academic Discipline: Establishing The Academic Community Database And Peer Review Of Proposed Academic Guidelines And Standards For Graduate Education In Executive Coaching
    (2008-12-01) Starr, Larry
    Graduate academic institutions in the United States, Canada, Australia, United Kingdom, Ireland, and Scotland were identified via online searches that offered coaching courses for which one earns a grade and are part of a graduate degree; coaching courses for which one earns a grade and that contribute to a graduate certificate but are not part of a degree; coaching courses for which there is no grade but that contribute to a certificate of attendance; and coaching applications and delivery services. Results indicated that there were no academic programs in New Zealand; 17 coaching programs were being offered at universities in Australia; 21 in Canada; 52 in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Scotland; and 124 in the United States. While all offered Master’s level coaching and the UK offered three Doctoral programs, most academic coaching was being used as a development service rather than as academic coursework. Follow-up recommendations were made to support the continued engagement and building of the academic coaching community through this web system.
  • Publication
    Reframing Survival: It’s about Systems not a Chain
    (2006-06-22) Starr, Larry
    The medical standard of care when confronted with sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) is to follow the “Chain of Survival” by engaging in early access, early CPR, early defibrillation and early advanced life support (ALS). Particularly in the occupational setting, each of these actions has been identified as critical to support the patient while awaiting assistance and transportation from the community Emergency Medical Service (EMS). However, I present here a broader argument that restricting one’s thinking to a conception that the “likelihood that a victim will survive cardiac arrest increases if each of the elements is addressed” is inadequate and misleading. Moreover, continuing to focus primarily on these individual elements is unlikely to solve to any significant degree the complex problem of our vulnerability to death from SCA. This paper presents an overview of this argument, offers an alternative conceptualization, and proposes ideas and actions that follow from its logic. While specifically directed at the problem of survival following SCA, the argument presented also addresses wider problems associated with major medical emergencies and other disasters.
  • Publication
    Philadelphia's Water Supply: How Human Capital and Collaboration Can Overcome Significant Man-Made Challenges
    (2013-01-16) Harris, Montgomery
    This paper focuses on the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania water supply – past, present, and future – and makes the case that stakeholder collaboration is essential to preserve and enhance this important resource. I argue that without proper planning and funding allocations, the water supply of Philadelphia could be compromised, and by 2050 Philadelphians could learn that an inexpensive, seemingly endless supply of water is substantially diminished. Public awareness is critical as Philadelphia and the United States are both likely to move into an era of water scarcity and onerous water pricing models. The more stakeholders work together to prepare for future strains on their key natural resource, the better the quality of life will be for people and for the other inhabitants of our natural world.
  • Publication
    S Corp ESOP Legislation Benefits and Costs: Public Policy and Tax Analysis
    (2008-07-29) Freeman, Steven F; Knoll, Michael
    Samuel Zell’s acquisition of the Tribune Company in December 2007 using an S corporation employee stock ownership plan (S ESOP) brought S ESOPs to national attention. An S ESOP is a trust that holds shares of an S corporation (a closely held corporation whose shareholders are taxed on a pass-through basis similarly to partners in a partnership) for the benefit of the corporation’s employees. S ESOPs, which have only existed since 1998 are not as well known as C ESOPs, an ESOP that holds shares of a C corporation (a separately taxed corporation). Enron, Polaroid and United Airlines, all of which had ESOPs when they went bankrupt, were C corporations. Perhaps because they have only existed for ten years, little academic attention has focused on S ESOPs. In this paper we draw on the extensive existing employee ownership literature to describe the benefits and costs to employees, to firms and to society at large from the legislation that authorizes S ESOPs, and, where possible, we quantify these costs and benefits. We estimate that annual contributions to S ESOPs on behalf of employees total $14 billion, which represent additional compensation that would not have been paid without an ESOP. Annual gains attributable to increased job stability also save employees approximately $3 billion annually. Accumulated stakes, which are essentially forced savings and usually do not displace other savings, lead to additional annual accruals of $34 billion. Employers pay for ESOP contributions out of firm-level productivity and sales gains of $33 billion annually attributable to employee ownership. We estimate that one quarter of the annual gain, $8 billion ultimately goes to the federal treasury, which thereby also benefits from the adoption of S ESOPs.
  • Publication
  • Publication
    Evidence Based Coaching Certificate
    (2008-08-01) Rogers, Katrina; Wildflower, Leni