Mgt. 443
Power and Influence in Organizations

This course is a multidisciplinary overview of the issues of power, influence, conflict, and dissent in and out of work organizations. We will draw on multiple perspectives to explore how power and influence are gained, maintained, used, abused, and lost in the pursuit of social objectives. The goal is to strike a balance--both in readings and in class discussions--between theoretical perspectives and applications. Applications of power and influence will also be drawn from cases, guest speakers, video excerpts, and your own experiences. The course will be managed as a graduate seminar, with heavy emphasis on classroom discussion of readings, cases, and issues. I intend to use my power to influence students to attend regularly and participate actively.

PROFESSOR

Bruce Barry
Professor of Management and Sociology
Owen Graduate School of Management
Vanderbilt University

office: 307 Management Hall
telephone: 322-3489
email
office hours: by appointment

READINGS AND SOURCES

Two Books are Required:

Saul Alinsky, Rules for Radicals. New York: Vintage, 1971.

Robert B. Cialdini, Influence: Science and Practice (4th edition). Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 2001.

Other Required Offline Readings:

Classpak for Mgt. 443, available at the Vanderbilt Bookstore.

Online Sources:

Many readings are found through links from this course Web site.

These are described in detail in the fall 2006 course syllabus (a pdf file).