Leadership, Power & Politics Seminar

Description

This seminar covers the analysis, explanation and evaluation of power and politics in organizations. It offers frameworks for assessing the sources of power in organizations, the conditions that lead to its attainment and its effective use from both a practical and an ethical perspective. Our discussions will cover how people in organizations try to get what they want by influencing others, how their ability to do so is affected by power distributions and how people try to change power distributions in their favor. We will evaluate these behaviors and discuss how (if at all) we should participate in these behaviors.

Learning Objectives:

• recognize situations that involve the use of power
• identify the principle actors and their points of view
• understand specific strategies and tactics through which power and influence are used
• understand the positive and negative consequences associated with the use of power and politics in organizations
• outline a personal learning agenda for how to harness power and influence in order to develop and achieve your career goals
  

Total Seminar Hours: 9

Leader

Craig Barkacs, J.D., M.B.A, began his long and close association with the University of San Diego when he arrived as a law student in August of 1978. Upon attaining his J.D./MBA, Professor Barkacs embarked on an exciting and illustrious career spanning the legal profession, the business world, and academia. As an attorney who often represented the underdog in high-profile civil and business litigation cases, he and his law partner wife, Linda, consistently achieved outstanding results litigating opposite some of the largest and most powerful law firms in the country. As an educator, Professor Barkacs has designed and taught numerous courses on negotiation, corporate social responsibility, ethics, law, and international business, and has published extensively in those disciplines. He has been very active in teaching in USD’s study abroad programs, and in the numerous graduate programs in the School of Business at the University of San Diego. In addition, he is often sought out by the media to provide commentary on business, legal, ethical, and political issues. As a way of connecting with the broader business community and as a way keeping his skills honed and relevant, Professor Barkacs and his wife are principals in The Barkacs Group (www.tbgexecutivetraining.com), a business consulting firm that provides negotiation and ethics training for the private sector.

Professor Barkacs has won many awards for his research and publications and has been awarded a prestigious University Professorship by USD for outstanding career achievement in teaching, scholarship and service (the highest award given to an actively teaching professor).  The graduate business students at USD have, on numerous occasions, honored him as Professor of the Year.