Emily Schultheiss wrote:
>
> 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
Why settle for soap operas when you could be using good or great
literature? I have been using various novels and drama for years in
teaching OB. My all time Number 1 novel to use is Watership Down by
Richard Adams. It's an allegory about teambuilding and leadership and
students, both grad and undergrad, LOVE it. Other works that have met
with great success include:
The Caine Mutiny (Herman Wouk's Pulitzer Prize winner)
Moby Dick (selections)
Antigone (Sophocles' great play is a 1 hour read)
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
O Pioneers! by Willa Cather (great for female leadership in a male
world)
The Secret Sharer by Joseph Conrad (grads only--this is a tough
novelette but a great one for the "dark side" of leadership
For Whom the Bell Tolls (selection--see my article in the Feb 1998
issue of Journal of Management Education)
Many, many others -- see my book chapter in John Bigelow (ed)
Managerial Skills (Sage, 1991)
Best,
Bill
--
Bill Ferris
Professor of Management
Western New England College
1215 Wilbraham Rd.
Springfield, MA 01119
Phone: 413-782-1629
Fax: 413-796-2068
E-mail:
bferris@wnec.edu