Consulting

My consulting practice emphasizes different aspects of personal and organizational transformation. I began consulting while I was a graduate student at Michigan State. I had several grants to conduct research for the Michigan Department of Mental Health, Michigan Office of Services to the Aging, and the Michigan Energy Extension Service. Since then, I've consulted with more than 100 organizations throughout Asia, Europe, and North America. I find that consulting helps me to keep my teaching and research grounded in organizational reality and avoid becoming irrelevantly theoretical. I like working with managers and helping them to improve the performance of their organizations. Because people spend such a large portion of their life working and derive their sense of self from their work experiences, I believe that helping organizations is one the most powerful means for helping people. By helping to make organizations whole, we can help to make people whole. Unfortunately, the converse is true: dysfunctional organizations make people who work in them dysfunctional as well.

I use graduate students to help me in most of my consulting projects. I think that this allows them to see I/O psychology in action and provides them with very valuable experience. Moreover, it helps them to understand at a deeper level what they learn in the classroom. I've listed below some consulting projects that represent the variety of my work. You can see a complete list of consulting projects if you look at my CV.

Burroughs-Wellcome (now part of Glaxo-Wellcome).  Developed a management assessment center to reinforce new company strategy in this pharmaceutical firm.  Conducted organization and individual assessment and provided feedback to several hundred middle and senior managers in the firms. Elliott Pursell was co-consultant.

BellSouth (now part of Verizon). Evaluated the effectiveness of management assessor training programs and created new training modules and mastery tests for this telecommunications firm.  Robert McIntyre was co-consultant.

Digital Equipment Corporation. Developed a computerized expert system designed to help organizations diagnose their readiness for organization change needed to implement advanced forms of computerized manufacturing technology for this computer manufacturer. Ann Majchrzak and Les Gasser were co-consultants.

Bowater Corporation. Developed and implemented a management assessment center for senior managers in this paper manufacturer. Co-consultant was Elliott Pursell. In addition, conducted organizational diagnosis and provided survey feedback intervention to foster implementation of employee involvement practices and team forms of work design. Also, analyzed and changed performance appraisal and reward system to support employee involvement.

Weyerhaeuser Corporation. Developed and implemented a management assessment center and developmental feedback for middle managers in this paper manufacturer. Elliott Pursell was co-consultant.

Joint Doctrine Center, U. S. Joint Chiefs of Staff. Developed and implemented training program for a team of military officers who were responsible for evaluating the effectiveness of interservice coordination during Operation Desert Storm, in Iraq.

WelGen.  Conducted organizational diagnosis and developed and implemented a management assessment center and developmental feedback for all middle and senior managers in this biotechnology firm.  Elliott Pursell was co-consultant.

Russian Academy of Sciences and Institute for Advanced Sociological Studies.  Developed and delivered a training program on leading and managing change for managers throughout Russia. Neal Schmitt and Frank Landy were co-consultants.

Philips Yangtze Fiber Optic and Cable Co., Ltd. Developed and provided a training program in team building and team management in this Dutch-Chinese joint venture devoted to manufacturing fiber optic cable in China.

Swire/Coca-Cola. Developed and delivered a training program in strategic management and organization design to this British-American-Chinese joint venture in China.

Wuhan Industry and Crafts Department Store. Conducted organizational diagnosis and developed and delivered a training program in strategic management, transformational leadership, and organization design to this Chinese department store.

U.S. Navy Fleet Industrial Supply Center. Conducted organizational diagnosis and team building intervention.

Ssangyong. Developed and delivered a training program on team building and team management to this Korean multinational firm. Kae Chung was co-consultant.

U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command. Developed and delivered training program on managing cultural diversity.

Bon Secours Health Systems. Developed and delivered training program on leading organization change to all managers of this health care corporation.

PDI Global Research Consortia. Conduct organizational diagnosis intended to uncover factors related to successful leadership and team performance in multicultural, virtual teams in four U.S. and European multinational firms at locations in Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, China, Taiwan, Thailand, Japan, United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and United States.

AT&T and International Telework Association. Conducted a national survey of telework practice among the population of working adults in the US for a national initiative called Telework America. Results were used to inform telework policy in the federal government and encourage teleworking throughout the US.

Center for Lasers and Plasmas in Advanced Manufacturing Technology/National Science Foundation. Provide organization development assistance in partnership with the National Science Foundation to this national research laboratory with locations at the University of Virginia, University of Michigan, Southern Methodist University, Columbia University, and University of Illinois-Champaign/Urbanna.