Organizational Analysis About the Course Best MBA Mooc in 2013 as per review in the Financial Times! "The best [MBA Mooc] was Organizational Analysis taught by Stanford's Dan McFarland" - Philip D. Broughton MBA It is hard to imagine living in modern society without participating in or interacting with organizations. Each case is full of details and complexity. Through this self-paced course you will come to see that there is nothing more practical than a good theory. Join your future classmates and course alumni on Facebook! Course Syllabus Module 1: Introduction Module 2: Decisions by rational and rule-based procedures Module 3: Decisions by dominant coalitions Module 4: Decisions in organized anarchies Module 5: Developing organizational learning and intelligence Module 6: Developing an organizational culture Module 7: Managing resource dependencies Module 8: Network forms of organization Module 9: Institutions and organizational legitimacy Module 10: Summary Suggested Readings Course Format
Discrete Optimization About the Course Optimization technology is ubiquitous in our society. It schedules planes and their crews, coordinates the production of steel, and organizes the transportation of iron ore from the mines to the ports. This class is an introduction to discrete optimization and exposes students to some of the most fundamental concepts and algorithms in the field. An introductory lecture to the course can viewed here. Course Syllabus The course has an open format. Course Format The class will consist of lecture videos, which are between 8 and 20 minutes in length (approximately 3 hours per week), and programming assignment covering the course concepts and exercising creativity. fly away home Design: Creation of Artifacts in Society About the Course This is a course aimed at making you a better designer. The course marries theory and practice, as both are valuable in improving design performance. Lectures and readings will lay out the fundamental concepts that underpin design as a human activity. Weekly design challenges test your ability to apply those ideas to solve real problems. Student Testimonials from Earlier Sessions of the Course:"An amazing course - a joy to take. "When I signed up for this course I didn't know what to expect; the experience was so good and rewarding. See examples of student projects: here Recommended Background No specific background is required. Suggested Readings To get a feel for the style of the instructor and the material in the course, this book is a good place to start: Ulrich, K.T. 2010. The free digital book is available at Design: Creation of Artifacts in Society. Other highly recommended reading is the textbook: Product Design and Development by Karl T. Course Format
Top five regrets of the dying There was no mention of more sex or bungee jumps. A palliative nurse who has counselled the dying in their last days has revealed the most common regrets we have at the end of our lives. And among the top, from men in particular, is 'I wish I hadn't worked so hard'. Bronnie Ware is an Australian nurse who spent several years working in palliative care, caring for patients in the last 12 weeks of their lives. Ware writes of the phenomenal clarity of vision that people gain at the end of their lives, and how we might learn from their wisdom. Here are the top five regrets of the dying, as witnessed by Ware: 1. "This was the most common regret of all. 2. "This came from every male patient that I nursed. 3. "Many people suppressed their feelings in order to keep peace with others. 4. "Often they would not truly realise the full benefits of old friends until their dying weeks and it was not always possible to track them down. 5. "This is a surprisingly common one.
Chicken Egg Binding. Causes, Symptoms, Treatment, Prevention When a hen has an egg inside her oviduct, she is referred to as being egg-bound. Egg-binding can be a life-threatening condition that must be addressed quickly, preferably by a seasoned, chicken veterinarian. If the egg is not passed within 24-48 hours, the hen is likely to perish. Absent access to a vet, backyard chicken-keepers may have to take matters into their own hands in order to save the hen's life. CausesCalcium or other nutritional deficiencyObesityExcessively large or misshapen eggOviduct infectionPremature layer (hen began laying eggs before her body was fully mature)Egg retention due to lack of sufficient nesting areas An overview of a hen's reproductive system is important in order to know where an egg may be stuck A hen's uterus (aka: shell gland) is the muscle responsible for squeezing the egg out of the vent. Possible Symptoms Dangers Infection Prolapsed uterus Damage to oviduct Bleeding Death Prevention Treatment Warm bath Apply KY jelly Massage
Model Thinking This course will consist of twenty sections. As the course proceeds, I will fill in the descriptions of the topics and put in readings. Section 1: Introduction: Why Model? In these lectures, I describe some of the reasons why a person would want to take a modeling course. To be an intelligent citizen of the worldTo be a clearer thinkerTo understand and use dataTo better decide, strategize, and design There are two readings for this section. The Model Thinker: Prologue, Introduction and Chapter 1 Why Model? Section 2: Sorting and Peer Effects We now jump directly into some models. In this second section, I show a computational version of Schelling's Segregation Model using NetLogo. NetLogo The Schelling Model that I use can be found by clicking on the "File" tab, then going to "Models Library". The readings for this section include some brief notes on Schelling's model and then the academic papers of Granovetter and Miller and Page. Notes on Schelling Granovetter Model Miller and Page Model
Introduction to Sustainability About the Course This course introduces the academic approach of Sustainability and explores how today’s human societies can endure in the face of global change, ecosystem degradation and resource limitations. The course focuses on key knowledge areas of sustainability theory and practice, including population, ecosystems, global change, energy, agriculture, water, environmental economics and policy, ethics, and cultural history. This subject is of vital importance, seeking as it does to uncover the principles of the long-term welfare of all the peoples of the planet. As sustainability is a cross-disciplinary field of study, this foundation requires intellectual breadth: as I describe it in the class text, understanding our motivations requires the humanities, measuring the challenges of sustainability requires knowledge of the sciences (both natural and social), and building solutions requires technical insight into systems (such as provided by engineering, planning, and management).
gamification About the Course Gamification is the application of digital game design techniques to non-game contexts, such as business, education, and social impact challenges. Video games are the dominant entertainment form of modern times because they powerfully motivate behavior. Over the past few years, gamification adoption has skyrocketed. Game thinking means more than dropping in badges and leaderboards to make an activity fun or addicting. Subtitles forall video lectures available in: English, Russian (provided by Digital October), Turkish (Koc University), and Ukrainian (provided by Bionic University) Course Syllabus The course is divided into 12 units. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. Recommended Background This course is designed as an introduction to gamification as a business practice. Suggested Readings The course is designed to be self-contained. Course Format The class will consist of video lectures, which are between 7 and 12 minutes in length. Yes. • Who should take this course?
Data Analysis About the Course You have probably heard that this is the era of “Big Data”. Stories about companies or scientists using data to recommend movies, discover who is pregnant based on credit card receipts, or confirm the existence of the Higgs Boson regularly appear in Forbes, the Economist, the Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times. But how does one turn data into this type of insight? The answer is data analysis and applied statistics. Data analysis is the process of finding the right data to answer your question, understanding the processes underlying the data, discovering the important patterns in the data, and then communicating your results to have the biggest possible impact. This course is an applied statistics course focusing on data analysis. Recommended Background Some familiarity with the R statistical programming language ( and proficiency in writing in English will be useful. Course Format