Learning Activity 1 - Theme 1
In 1988 Clark’s Manufacturing Company sought to survive a competitive run on their business from the Japanese. They survived by using the systems thinking method. Read the following article:
Seeing Your Company as a System
How did Clark’s save the company by using systems thinking.
Identify three to five major concepts of system thinking and then explain how when applied they worked for Clark’s and its competitors.
Evaluate the company’s success and explain why you think this approach was a better fit than the more conventional theories discussed in the last weeks. If you disagree that it was a better fit explain why.
How could Clark’s have used design thinking to accomplish the same goals?
Learning Activity 2- Theme 2
When we started the class we learned that the 21st century manager must be agile to survive the fluid and dynamic business environment of this century. However, we established that the foundation of management theory in many organizations today is the traditional Fayol functions. Reflect on the classwork and then address your comments to the articles this week on agile managers to debate this question: Agile management is not the answer to creating a facile and competitive business organization.