Session Summary

Session Number:618
Session ID:S701
Session Title:Becoming Business Partners: Constructing a More Accurate Workplace Reality Through the Use of Learning Maps
Short Title: MAD session - Learning Maps
Session Type:Division Other
Hotel:Swiss
Floor:LL3
Room:Alpine II
Time:Tuesday, August 10, 1999 3:40 PM - 5:15 PM

Sponsors

MED  (James Stoner)Stoner@mary.fordham.edu (212) 765-5573 

General People

Chair Seiling, Jane Galloway Business Performance Group jseiling@wcoil.com 419-227-7979 
Presenter McNamee, Sheila  U. of New Hampshire smcnamee@CHRISTA.unh.edu 603-862-3040 
Presenter Carroll, Craig E. U. of Texas, Austin cecarroll@mail.utexas.edu 512-927-9440 
Presenter Flasck, Eric  Root Learning, Inc. flascke@rootlearning.com 419-874-0077 Ext. 1138 

Submissions

Abstract

Leaders in organizations know their members need to 1) know how their actions affect others; 2) actively identify with customer needs; 3) see and understand the new workplace realities; and 4) communicate those new realities in ways that invite discussion to reach understanding. Students and workers alike are feeling the frustration of not knowing how to communicate around these issues in the workplace. Making sense of the workplace happens when members see what is occurring around them has meaning. Organizations are seeking ways to help members at all levels in pluralistic organizations become business partners--people who are connected to the mission and purpose of their organization and are willing to actively contribute to the welfare of their organization. To accomplish this, 1) new ways of spreading information through cross-organizational learning experiences to all members are being sought and 2) the academic environment is seeking ways to prepare students for this leadership role in the workplace. This session will look at 1) the sociological and psychological aspects of co-construction in a pluralistic organization; 2) providing opportunities for "voice" for all organizational "members;" 3) expanding organizational identity in a pluralistic world; and 4) experiencing a multi-voiced learning design by looking at a process of learning and listening utilizing provocative learning maps that have been used worldwide in organizations such as Boeing, Sears, Hewlett-Packard, Pepsi-Cola Company, Mercedes-Benz, Siemens Nixdorf and many others.