Chapter guides
One stop per chapter: the big ideas, the lecture video, the slides, the workbook, the quiz, and (as they are written) the muddiest points and a bonus case. The textbook is Management: Optimizing Talent for Organizational Effectiveness (Norman, 2026), free as a PDF in Canvas Week 1 and at managementtextbook.com.
Weekly rhythm. Tuesday teaches three ideas and runs one check. Thursday is a 35-minute activity plus a ten-minute bridge. Quizzes and Exit Tickets are due Sunday 11:59 p.m.; workbook modules are due Monday 11:59 p.m. Canvas applies 1% per day late.
- Chapter 1Introduction to Management, the Five Functions, and the DART ModelWeek 2 · Sep 1/3
- Why management matters in every career
- Levels, types, and skills of managers
- The Five Functions
- DART: Direct & Deploy, Attract & Assess, Reward & Retain, Teach & Transform
- Why DART is multiplicative; buy vs. develop
- Chapter 2The Evolution of Management ThoughtWeek 3 · Sep 8/10
- Classical: scientific management, bureaucracy, administrative principles
- Humanistic: Hawthorne, human relations, behavioral science
- Management science; systems, contingency, TQM, learning organization
- The schools as a toolkit: a DART reading
- Chapter 3Planning, Goals, and StrategyWeek 4 · Sep 15/17
- The planning process; SMART goals; MBO
- Strategic, tactical, operational
- SWOT and Porter's Five Forces
- Corporate, business, functional strategy; Blue Ocean; the Hedgehog
- Chapter 4Using Judgment: Decision Making and EthicsWeek 5 · Sep 22/24
- Programmed vs. nonprogrammed; certainty, risk, uncertainty, ambiguity
- Rational model vs. how decisions are really made
- Biases and barriers; deciding better; group decisions
- The four ethical lenses; CSR and sustainability
- Chapter 5Organizational Structure and DesignWeek 6 · Sep 29/Oct 1
- Structure follows strategy; differentiation and integration
- Vertical structure: hierarchy, span of control, delegation, (de)centralization
- Departmentalization: functional, divisional, matrix, network
- Mintzberg's configurations; mechanistic vs. organic; job design
- Chapter 6Human Resource ManagementWeek 7 · Oct 6/8
- Strategic HRM and HR planning; job analysis
- Recruiting and the realistic preview
- Selection: reliability, validity, methods
- EEO; the business case for inclusion; onboarding; separations; labor relations
- Chapter 7Organizational Culture and ChangeWeek 9 · Oct 20/22
- What culture is; strong vs. weak; reading a culture
- How culture is created and sustained
- Lewin, force-field analysis, Kotter's eight steps
- Resistance to change and how to overcome it
- Chapter 8Motivation and CommunicationWeek 10 · Oct 27/29
- Needs theories; goal-setting, expectancy, equity, reinforcement
- Designing motivating work; total rewards; the psychological contract
- The communication process; channels and media richness; listening
- Chapter 9Leadership, Teams, and ConflictWeek 11 · Nov 3/5
- Power and influence; trait, behavioral, situational, contingency
- Contemporary leadership
- Team development and effectiveness
- Conflict and negotiation
- Chapter 10Training, Development, and CareersWeek 12 · Nov 10/12
- Development as the second period; needs analysis; how adults learn
- Methods; Kirkpatrick and ROI; performance management as development
- 70-20-10; coaching, mentoring, sponsorship; careers and succession
- Chapter 11Control, Quality, and Continuous ImprovementWeek 13 · Nov 17/19
- Control as learning; the control process; bureaucratic, market, clan
- Financial controls; the Balanced Scorecard; managing with data
- Six Sigma, Lean, after-action review
- When control goes wrong
- Chapter 12Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and the Future of ManagementWeek 15 · Dec 1/3
- Globalization; the rise of AI; the reclassification of work
- Entrepreneurial mindset; types and sources of innovation
- The sustainable organization; the future of work
- DART as a whole