Please
note that this description was taken from an earlier semester. New information
will be posted when available.
COURSE NUMBER: EWMBA 296-3
COURSE TITLE: Problem Finding, Problem Solving
UNITS OF CREDIT: 1 Unit
INSTRUCTOR: Clark Kellogg
E-MAIL ADDRESS: kellogg@berkeley.edu
CLASS WEB PAGE LOCATION (HTTP URL):
MEETING DAY(S)/TIME: Thursdays, 2/7-3/7, 6:00PM-9:30PM
PREREQUISITE(S): EWMBA Core Curriculum
CLASS
FORMAT: There are five class sessions for this course, and all of them will
include active exercises with small groups and teams in the class. This is a
"learn by doing" course. There is a "note" for each class
session that provides some background for the approaches we'll use in those
sessions. You'll be asked to complete some short exercises outside class and
bring the results to class to be used in the in-class exercises. At the end of
each class session, you'll be asked to reflect on what you learned and how it
might apply to your work.
REQUIRED READINGS:
There are two sources of reading material for this cours:
- Series of notes on the Problem Finding, Problem Solving process located on
the class website
- A few web-based readings for which links are provided in the assignments for
each class We also recommend the book Business Model Generation by Alexander Osterwalder and Yves Pigneur as
related reading that will help you apply what you've learned in class to your
work.
BASIS FOR FINAL GRADE:
Your course grade will be determined as follows:
40% on homework assignments
30% on attendance and participation in class
30% on study group output
ABSTRACT OF COURSE'S CONTENT AND
OBJECTIVES:
One of the goals that the Dean has set forth for all of you is that you will
have a chance to learn about and become innovative leaders. This short course
will introduce you to some of the basic skills associated with being innovative
– in whatever profession you choose to pursue.
In brief, the class will help you both to think about how you frame the
problems you are working on in the first place, and to become more generative
in coming up with a range of alternative solutions. Classtime will
be spent in hands-on exercises to introduce you to a set of tools and techniques derived from the literature on critical thinking,
design thinking and systems thinking that will help you with problem framing
and problem solving. It is anticipated that the approaches you learn in class
will set you up to work on the various projects you will take on in your
experiential learning electives such as International Business Development,
Social Sector Solutions and CleanTech to
Market.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH: