Executives who sign up to learn how to lead fast-growth companies at IBM's Advanced Business Institute this winter also will get lessons in crisis management.
The two sets of skills aren't that far apart, says Beta Mannix, a professor of organizational behavior at Cornell's Johnson Graduate School of Management, who will teach a component of the course to 30 executives from a range of organizations. "Leading Fast-Growth Companies" is the first one-week intensive at the institute to offer such skills to the general public. It is taught by faculty from Cornell's Johnson School and the IBM institute and will take place Dec. 10-14 in IBM's executive conference center in Palisades, N.Y. The focus: organizational agility in times of stress.
Mannix says the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 as well as the economic downturn have made her reconsider what she'll emphasize. "In both fast-growth and crisis environments, people need to influence, persuade and change without necessarily having the authority to do it, so established networks of colleagues can be especially valuable," she said. "When it's 2 a.m. and the river's rising, its awfully hard to call someone for help unless you've already built a relationship, to borrow a phrase from [former Red Cross director] Liddy Dole."
Also, in both fast-growth and crisis environments "people suddenly need to take on a range of jobs. When their attention is more divided they are unable to process information well, so important messages may be needed to be repeated," Mannix counseled. In addition, in both environments, people can be resistant to performing new roles. "They worry that they won't be competent or their identities will change, so they may need more reassurance than usual," she said.
David BenDaniel, the Berens Professor of Entrepreneurship at the Johnson School, explained the difference between normal and dynamic high-growth business environments this way: "When water flows slowly, it's smooth and predictable; when it flows rapidly, it becomes turbulent, so your boat-handling skills must change." In a dynamic environment, it is an advantage to be smaller and more agile, he said. BenDaniel coordinates the course and will teach its action plan component.
Bob Keiser, a faculty member at IBM's Advanced Business Institute who helped plan the December workshop's curriculum, said that the institute's "sense-and-respond" model for dealing with unpredictability is great training for both crisis and fast-growth management. Executives are asked, in advance of a given course, to describe an unpredictable scenario that would have a profound impact on their company's health and performance. "We then teach them how to sense changes and respond to the unpredictable event earlier and better," said Keiser. Those skills will be taught at the December seminar. The course also will look at customer relations, marketing and innovation strategies, and valuation for fast-growth companies. Participants will be asked to create individual action plans and apply the seminar's lessons to a current decision in their organization.
Future topics for Johnson School-IBM courses open to the general public include Internet security and privacy and techniques for data mining.
For more information, visit this web site: http://www.johnson.cornell.edu/execed.html.
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