Mgt C19 - New Ways of Work Fall 2008
MANAGEMENT

Course Description

Over the last twenty years, the nature of employment has changed.

As students of management, soon to graduate, you are increasingly likely to find careers involving a series of short-term contracts or project related assignments.

The premise behind this course is: as managers in the future you will not have a “career”.

You will have a portfolio of adaptable and transferable skills.

You will need to transport your skills from employer to employer, client to client, or assignment to assignment.

 

 

Course Outline

The course begins with two lectures devoted to examining the demographic, technological and business strategy reasons why your assumptions about having a traditional, secure, long-term, career-path will have to change.

We will examine the evidence that the traditional “employer-employee” model of work has been in decline. A more entrepreneurial “client-consultant” model of work has emerged.

We will consider the reasons why corporations increasingly out-source managerial work to independent contractors, consultants, advisers and specialists.

We will then look at the skills and attributes required of “entrepreneurial managers” in “the new model of work”. To be successful, you will increasingly have to source your own flow of projects/assignments.

The course therefore devotes three lectures to “How Consultants Find Work” (networking, proposal writing, negotiating contracts).

Once you have secured your work, you then have to deliver. The course closes with sessions on “managing projects” and “managing clients”.

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Rationale for the Course

You are less and less likely to have a career based on a traditional "job", with a steady flow of work, predictable schedule, and a structured career path.

You are more and more likely to have a life involving a series of short term contracts or project-related assignments.

You will need to be opportunistic and entrepreneurial in structuring your own career path.

Succesful professionals of the future will need to develop a portfolio of adaptable and transferable skills. The key skills that will be needed will include:

networking;

personal selling;

proposal writing;

contract negotiation;

and

project management.

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Topics Covered

The course will examine:

The changing nature of the world of work. Downsizing, right sizing, outsourcing and "business process re-engineering" are all elaborate ways of saying that white-collar, middle-rank, professional managers will have less job security, shorter job tenure, and a greater variety in their careers. They will need to take a more entrepreneurial approach to career and personal development.

The entreprenurial model of managerial work. With the demise of the traditional psychological contract between employers and managers, future managers will increasingly need to become contractors, consultants and free-lancers.

The rise of the contingent worker. Examines the many reasons why employers are increasingly hiring contractors, consultants and free-lancers, on a part-time, short-term or per project basis.

Consulting skills - finding work. Looks at the importance of networking, and personal selling

Consulting skills - defining work. Looks at project specification, proposal writing, responding to Invitiations to Tender (ITTs) and Requests for Proposal (RFPs)

Proposal Writing - Frequently, a written report is the most significiant - sometimes the only - permanent evidence of the consultant's presence. A consultant's Report should document what you were asked to do, what you did, why you did it, and report on the actual or likely outcomes. We examine the style and content of Consultants' Reports.

Understanding Contracts - In lieu of "jobs for life" employment will be secured on a contractual basis. It will be important for managers to understand the legal nature of non-disclusure agreemnts (NDAs) and Contracts.

Managing Projects - As a contractor or a consultant, you will need to budget and manage your time, develop your own project management metrics, and manage clients rather than bosses or subordinates.

 

 

Learning Outcomes

"New Ways of Work" is a reading and research-based course. The intent of the course is not to help you secure a job with a major consulting firm. Students who are expecting a short cut to what they perceive as a glamorous job or life style should not take MGTC19.

The purposes of this course are to:

Get students challenging their conventional ideas of "the job" and "career".

Encourage students to think about self-employment or non-traditional employment as an increasing probable career option.

Provide an understanding as to why firms, increasingly, are down-sizing and outsourcing much of their operations to contractors, consultants and free-lancers.

To examine the key skills required by consultants in order to locate and secure, to manage assignments and successfully manage client relatioships.