Pathfinders unpacks the performance improvement models that can be best used to aid organizations in going beyond training and achieving the needed performance results. Part I introduces the context of the attention converging on performance improvement, and why. Part II presents the preeminent performance improvement models that have stood as solid foundations on which to research theory or practice applications. It also offers a metamodel that provides a common framework for these models and shows how they relate to interventions that can be used to improve performance. Part III presents an unprecedented collection of biographies and bibliographies that provide an overview of the dominant performance improvement models.
Peter J. Dean, Ph.D. heads Leaders By Design™, the men's leadership development and executive coaching division of The Leader's Edge™. With over 30 years of national and international experience in the industry, Peter bases his executive coaching and consulting on current reviews of literature and research from the ever-expanding field of leadership development and the best practices in character development and executive coaching. Leaders By Design helps male executives recognize and understand the intricacies inherent in global leadership and dealing with change across cultures and sub-cultures.
Peter has consulted and coached for Shire, DuPont, Merrill Lynch, Unisys, Microsoft, Johnson & Johnson, BMS, IBC, Rohm & Haas, AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline, Enzon Pharmaceuticals, Teva Pharmaceuticals, Lockheed-Martin, Oak Ridge National Laboratories, National Security Agency, American Airlines, US Department of Energy, PECO Energy, Wilmington Trust, General Motors, Motorola University, Holiday Inn, Woodlawn Trustees Inc, Wawa, Lincoln Financial, ARAMARK, University of the Sciences in Philadelphia, and U.S. Trust. Dr. Dean worked in Europe and Asia for 8 years and has lectured, consulted and/or coached in 14 countries.
Dr. Dean's articles have been published in the Journal of Business Ethics, Human Resource Development Quarterly, Performance Improvement Quarterly, Performance Improvement Journal, Quarterly Review of Distance Education, Australian Journal of Educational Technology, Financial Times, Philadelphia Business Journal, Wealth and Retirement Planner, and GAMA International Journal.
For 15 years he was a lecturer in Communication, Ethics and Leadership at The Wharton School and the Fels Center of Government both at The University of Pennsylvania. Also, Peter held the O. Alfred Granum Chair in Management at The American College in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania where he was a Management and Leadership professor and ran the MSM in Leadership graduate degree program. In addition, he has been on the faculty at Fordham University, University of Tennessee, Pennsylvania State University, and the University of Iowa. Peter holds his Ph.D. in Learning Psychology and Human Resources Management from the University of Iowa and a MS degree in Organizational Dynamics from the University of Pennsylvania.
He was Editor in Chief of Performance Improvement Quarterly from 1996 to 2002. In 1994, he edited the book Performance Engineering at Work; co-authored an instructional manual for the book Managing Business Ethics; co-edited four books in the Performance Improvement Pathfinder series in 1997; and co-edited The Physician's Essential MBA. He co-authored the book Philosophy and Practice of Learning, Performance and Change in 2001 and authored Leadership for Everyone published by McGraw-Hill in 2005. His newest book, Breaking Into the Boys' Club, came out in May 2009.
Peter has taught courses in business strategy and environment, business ethics, psychology, anthropology, managerial communication, organizational change leadership, sociology, social problems in cities, systems of human resource development, performance improvement and technology, human relations, organizational learning, educational psychology, and qualitative and quantitative research methodologies.
Peter was the recipient of the 1999 Excellence in Teaching Award at The Wharton School; the 1999 Outstanding Faculty Member for the Physician Executive MBA Program offered on the internet by the University of Tennessee; the 1995 MBA Core Curriculum Cluster Teaching Award at The Wharton School; and the 1993 Excellence in Teaching Award at Penn State University at Great Valley.
