Discussion: View Thread

If anyone out there has used novels as case studies, I would like to know
if you have used Michael Crichton's _Airframe_? I just read it over the
holidays, and it strikes me that it has potential as a sort of "soap-opera"
case study for a basic Organizational Behavior course that I teach
occasionally.

In the past, in management development programs, I have used _Soul of a New
Machine_ (Tracy Kidder) and _The Great Escape_. _Airframe_ introduces some
different issues, but some very contemporary issues, it seems.

Emily Schultheiss
Why settle for surviving...when you could be thriving?

Hi Emily,
I have always used novels in my classes but not in complete form. Mostly
excerpts. A few years
ago, however, I came across an organization known as The Hartwick in
Humanities in Management
Institute(HHMI), an entity of Hartwick College in New York State. They
received a huge grant from
the Kellogg Foundation to develop a series of management cases using
classical literature.
My coauthor and I have written a number of their cases. These are:
Mutiny on the Bounty
Lord of the Flies
Dead Poets Society and most recently
Shogun
This last August my coauthor and I gave a symposium at the Academy of
Management meeting on Using Classical Literature in Management Education.
We explained the model, the process, and showed applications using both
text and video.
The Model is a simple one: extensive text excerpts, detailed teaching note,
and a current article.
If your interested you can contact them directly 1-800-94-CASES. At least
get the catalog, since they
have a chart identifying most management/ob/leadership areas and what cases
apply. If you're not interested you can use the chart in helping you plan
your own agenda. Let me know how it turns out.

Barry

Barry Armandi
Distinguished Teaching Professor
Dept of Management
SUNY-Old Westbury
Old Westbury, NY 11568
516-876-3292
----------
> From: Emily Schultheiss <ees@NAUTICOM.NET>
> To: MG-ED-DV@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU
> Subject: Query
> Date: Monday, January 05, 1998 9:30 AM
>
> If anyone out there has used novels as case studies, I would like to know
> if you have used Michael Crichton's _Airframe_? I just read it over the
> holidays, and it strikes me that it has potential as a sort of
"soap-opera"
> case study for a basic Organizational Behavior course that I teach
> occasionally.
>
> In the past, in management development programs, I have used _Soul of a
New
> Machine_ (Tracy Kidder) and _The Great Escape_. _Airframe_ introduces
some
> different issues, but some very contemporary issues, it seems.
>
> Emily Schultheiss
> Why settle for surviving...when you could be thriving?

Several days ago Emily asked about Crighton's _Airframe_ as a case study in OD
issues.

I reviewed this book for the LA Times, and as much as the second half was a
real page turner, I must say I found almost everything else about the book to
be simplistic and ridiculous. The worst part was its stock character
stereotypes--the boozy TV producer, the slutty TV reporter, the brutish union
types, the single-minded single mom named Casey "Singleton," and on and on.

On the other hand, I couldn't agree with you rmore about Kidder's book _The
Soul of a New Machine_ (though it's nonfiction). Likewise, Kidder's book
_House_ is a brilliant look at conflicting constituencies.

Emily, please don't perpetuate _Airframe_ as anything but sheer, low-overhead
escapism!

cheers,
tom petzinger

P.S. Note new e-mail address: tom@petzinger.com.