B718 – Special Topics in Organization Behaviour

This ambitious course provides a platform for graduate students from any faculty to develop the strategic foresight and change leadership skills needed to imagine and navigate different future scenarios. Using some of the same tools that such organizations as Accenture, Microsoft and Toyota use to peer into the future, we will analyze the systems, trends and signals underlying realistic long-term visions for such issue areas as healthcare, climate change, financial markets, the workplace, and more. We will also explore the change management and resilience skills leaders need to mobilize people and resources towards desired outcomes.

Key Features

Experiential Learning Projects

You will engage in strategic foresight projects that explore key systems, forces and issues driving change, imagine provocative realistic future scenarios that can leverage emerging opportunities and/or mitigate risks, and map out strategies for pursuing positive outcomes.

Blended-Learning

You will spend most of your time in class working on your team foresight project. In addition, you will engage in asynchronous online discussions outside of class on such topics as futures and systems thinking, rethinking capitalism, the impact of AI and social media on business and society, storytelling, and leading complex change.

No Final Exams

You will be graded based on your team strategic foresight project, your in-class and online participation, and on your personal capstone reflection essay.

Career-Ready Skills

You will develop eight out of the top 10 skills the World Economic Forum envisions will be most needed by 2025.