The McGraw-Hill 36-Hour Course: Organizational Development (McGraw-Hill 36-Hour Courses) [Paperback]

Stephen Balzac (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 20, 2010 | Series: McGraw-Hill 36-Hour Courses

Take a crash course in one of today's most important business skills--organizational development!

Change comes fast, and the most successful organizations are prepared to handle it before impact; they act, not react. How are they able to do this? With a solid grounding in organizational development.

The McGraw-Hill 36-Hour Course: Organizational Development is a skill-building guide to one of the most important functions in business today. In no time, you'll be able to recognize patterns of organizational behavior that are detrimental to your organization, and you'll have the skills to envision and drive the type of change your company needs. Concise, engaging, and filled with quizzes to help you reinforce lessons learned, this crash course offers the knowledge you need to:

• Address problems with your company’s culture
• Hire the best people for your needs
• Set goals and move your team to action
• Motivate your people to envision change
• Institute meaningful change in how your company functions

Change can be your company's best friend. You just have to manage it with skill. The McGraw-Hill 36-Hour Course: Organizational Development puts you on the fast track to face today’s, not yesterday's, challenges.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Stephen R. Balzac is president of 7 Steps Ahead, LLC (www.7stepsahead.com), a consulting firm that helps businesses improve individual, team, and organizational performance.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (September 20, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0071743820
• ISBN-13: 978-0071743822
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 0.7 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #458,959 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Stephen R. Balzac, "The Business Sensei," is a consultant, professional speaker, and psychology professor. He is the president of 7 Steps Ahead, LLC, (www.7stepsahead.com) a consulting firm specializing in helping businesses get unstuck and transform problems into opportunities.

Steve's background in engineering, psychology, martial arts, and competitive sports makes him a popular speaker on topics ranging from leadership, motivation, team building, interviewing skills, and sport performance to computer game design. His articles have appeared in a number of journals, including The Journal of Interactive Drama, The IBM Systems Journal, Mass High Tech, Enterprise Management Quarterly, The CEO Refresher, The Journal of Corporate Recruiting Leadership, Analog SF/F and the Worcester Business Journal.

Steve is a contributing author to "Ethics and Game Design: Teaching Values Through Play." He is the author of "The 36-Hour Course in Organizational Development," in which he draws heavily on his experiences as an engineer, manager, and consultant. His next book, "Organizational Psychology for Managers," is due out in late 2013. He is a frequent guest on radio shows including Motivational Minds and Leadership Radio, and is quoted in a variety of publications including the NY Times and the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Steve served on the board of the New England Society of Applied Psychology (NESAP) and is the president of the Society of Professional Consultants (SPC). No stranger to the challenges of achieving peak performance under competitive and stressful conditions, he holds a fifth degree black belt in jujitsu and is a former nationally ranked competitive fencer.

Building effective development organizations, improving team morale, focus, and enthusiasm, developing effective communications between team members, reducing employee turnover, helping businesses identify and attain strategic targets, and applying sport psychology techniques to business have been some of his most successful projects.

Steve blogs irregularly at http://www.TheBusinessSensei.com.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars How to Make Things Work January 7, 2011

By Carolyn S Wales

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Balzac offers a very clear, concise, and witty overview of key organizational issues. The combination of theory and practice is very compelling - the book builds a step-by-step framework of organizational theory, and gives numerous examples of how these concepts have played out in real-life.

Extremely readable, extremely useful in helping to both understand the concepts and put them to use. This is the kind of book you can get a lot out of yourself, but can also give to colleagues to help them understand what organizational development is about and why it's important to them.

Highly recommended.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars How to motivate & build trust as a leader October 25, 2010

By Erica R. Wang

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Dealing with human nature can be complex. Balzac's book makes simple, and often humorous, arguments to help leaders effectively motivate and build trust.

Excellent read!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the Best Books on Leadership February 1, 2011

By Brian Carton

Format:Paperback

This book offers something that many business books lack: real-world advice. I do enjoy learning from the many books that offer insight, concepts, and theory, but for once I'm very pleased to find a book that offers relevant examples and suggestions for implementation. Balzac is an entertaining writer and a compelling teacher. He keeps the discussion interesting, yet doesn't get so lofty that one needs to have the same exact background and education as the author in order to follow the conversation. I also personally appreciate the genuine lack of pontification.

The book does offer a roadmap or template for organizational development, but to me it's really a book about being a more thoughtful, deliberate leader. I've already implemented some of Balzac's sound advice, and intend to follow through on much more.