GSEM - Graduate School of Management Seminars

Why Some Companies Make the Leap...and Others Don't (Jim Collins). Making the transition from good to great doesn't require a high-profile CEO, the latest technology, innovative change management, or even a fine-tuned business strategy. At the heart of those rare and truly great companies was a corporate culture that rigorously found and promoted disciplined people to think and act in a disciplined manner. This seminar offers a well-reasoned road map to excellence that any organization would do well to consider.

As people move up the organizational ladder they are often thrown into situations for which they are not prepared. Social skills and etiquette are requirements for leaders of today. This seminar will provide an opportunity to learn about wine and formal dining etiquette with an Illinois sommelier at a local restaurant, how to handle challenging etiquette conversations and situations, as well as additional topical etiquette issues.

This seminar provides an overview of the key elements of a Six Sigma program. Six Sigma is a management strategy whereby customer satisfaction is maximized, and defects that create customer dissatisfaction are minimized. A key feature of Six Sigma is the use of a structured, disciplined problem-solving approach to reducing defects. The six steps to problem solving are: Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control, and Replicate.

This seminar will assist students in strengthening their oral communication skills for business. A balance of theory and practice will be provided.

The purpose of this training is to provide individuals and intact teams with useful concepts and practical tools for increasing team effectiveness.  Specifically, team members learn about team basis and the characteristics of effective teams as well as a model for team development.  In addition, they are given many opportunities to apply specific team development methods, tools, and activities.

The purpose of this seminar is to help business students and professionals systematically analyze business situations and avoid the traps that lead to bad thinking. The seminar will also help the professional better assess the role of business in society, analyze the claims of “experts,” and identify business opportunities. Among the diverse topics covered in the seminar are: how to identify flaws in business reasoning, analyzing the total cost of a business transaction from the business and the customer’s standpoint, a new way to look at pricing, how externalities and risk-sharing impact business decisions, and how to effectively analyze numerical information in business decisions.

This seminar is a culmination of a variety of experts’ ideas on how to successfully negotiate. We will address a variety of topics. We will discuss, role-play, and view video clips on dealing with conflict in negotiations. Each participant will also complete a self-assessment of his/her own personal style of negotiation and we will discuss the impact each style has on negotiations.

This is an advanced seminar in the area of business ethics: dilemmas which modern businesses face. Often individuals are caught with personal and organizational conflicts due to competing values. What is the source(s) upon which our values and behaviors are based? What are the differences between what is moral, legal, and ethical behavior and codes of conduct? These are the questions this short seminar will address. Through the use of films, group discussions, and presentations, the seminar will be an exciting, thought-provoking learning experience.

This seminar is designed to cover the project management body of knowledge (PMBOK) areas tested in the Project Management Professional (PMP) certification exam administered by the Project Management Institute (PMI).  The nine PMBOK areas are:  Scope, Time, Cost, HR, Risk, Integration, Quality, Communication, and Procurement management. The focus is going to be on preparing students to pass the PMP certification exam.

The Major Field Test (MFT) is an assessment exam that is a requirement for graduation. The College of Business and the Graduate School of Management have ACBSP accreditation with the expectation that all graduating students are assessed.  The MFT is a three-hour online proctored exam, which is held on campus in Romeoville. Students have access to a review workshop in Blackboard. There is no tuition charged or credit earned for this exam.