Center for Organizational Research (COR)

COR Seminar

End of the Year Event!

Featuring Presentations by Previous COR Fellows and Small Grant Recipients

June 5, 12:00-1:30
Social Ecology I, Room 306

This event will showcase the work of past COR Graduate Student Fellows and Faculty Small Grant Recipients:

Graduate Student Fellows
Scott Byrd, School of Social Sciences
    “Transnational movement gatherings and coalition work: Complex affiliations, framing strategies,         and multi-organizational fields”

Kelsy Kretschmer, School of Social Sciences
    “Origins and trajectories of breakaway organizations “

Kathryn Quick, School of Social Ecology
    “Questioning insider/outsider organizational boundaries: Examples from inclusive public                        management “

Karen Jeong Robinson, School of Social Sciences
    “From discipline to choice: The reconstitution of the university student “

Laurent Tambayong, Mathematical Behavioral Sciences
    “Strategic behaviors in entrepreneurial alliances: A simulated game-theoretic network model as a         theoretical framework in explaining empirical findings “

Norman Su, Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences
    “Visualizing the Temporal Dimensions of Interactions inModern Organizations”

Faculty Small Grant Recipients
Catherine Bolzendahl, School Social Sciences
    “Unintended consequences or organizing differences? Legislatures and legislators ‘doing gender’ in        Germany, Sweden and the United States “

David Frank, School of Social Sciences
    “The Worldwide Evolution of the University in the 20^th Century”

COR Seminar
Co-sponsored with Planning, Policy and Design

Web-based Solutions for Effective Planning

Brian Judd
Vice President of Community Planning and Design
The Planning Center

Kati Rubinyi
Senior Research and Development Specialist
The Planning Center

March 4, 11:30 – 12:20 PM
Social Ecology I, Room 306

Seminar Abstract

In this seminar, our speakers will present and describe the web platform they have created to support the integrated approach to governance and planning that Greg Devereaux (City Manager of Ontario, California) is discussing on February 25^th.  They will provide a demonstration of the web platform and discuss the differences between the web platform as an outcome and as a process that promotes collaboration. 

About the Speakers

Brian Judd, Vice President of Community Planning and Design at The Planning Center, pilots an integrated team of practiced policy planners and innovative designers to create resourceful solutions for the company’s often complex and always challenging projects. Prior to joining The Planning Center in 1999, Brian spent five years as a planner with the County of Orange, where he divided his tenure between the Advance Planning Division and the MCAS El Toro Master Development Program. Brian earned both his B.A. in Social Ecology and his Masters in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of California, Irvine. 

Kati Rubinyi, Senior Research & Development Specialist at The Planning Center, played a key role in The Ontario Plan project and was instrumental in the development of its web-based planning program. She has also been involved in a variety of research capacities for both project related and business development programs.  Before working with The Planning Center, Kati was an adjunct lecturer and design-studio reviewer at several colleges. She also worked on the creation of a design-based executive education program for the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. Kati’s approach to strategic planning and research, and her commitment to improving the built environment, was shaped by her prior practice as an architect working in a broad range of capacities from design to project management.

The Planning Center is a private consulting firm providing multi-disciplinary services to both government agencies and the private sector. Since its founding in 1975, The Planning Center has been devoted to the development of viable planning solutions to the physical, social and environmental problems that arise from urbanization. We provide imaginative solutions to the challenges associated with urban growth and land development. The company’s mission is to create better places, in collaboration with our clients, for people to live, work, learn and enjoy their lives.

Informatics Seminar

Role of Shapers in Corporate Expertise Redeployment via Wikis

Ann Majchrzak
Marshall School of Business
University of Southern California

February 20, 3:00 – 5:00 PM
Bren Hall, Room 5011

Seminar Abstract

The role of cognitive capital – components of expertise  – on contributions to online communities has received less research attention than other forms of capital (such as social capital). When cognitive capital has been studied, there has been contradictory findings. This study focuses on three components of cognitive capital: expertise depth, expertise breath, and transactive memory systems for coordinating expertise in online firm-based communities. The literature on contributions to online communities has also tended to focus on a single form of contribution: contribution of specialized expertise, in the form of advice-giving or materials such as music or software or bug reporting.  Recent technology developments (e.g., wikis) have made it possible to consider a second form of contribution: contributions that integrate one’s own and others’ specialized expertise.  In this study, we document the emergence of integrative behaviors in online communities, identifying the differential cognitive capital antecedents of integrative vs specialized expertise contributions. We also identify the differential effects of these two contribution behaviors on individuals’ perceptions of the effective redeployment of the expertise that they have contributed to the online work community.

About the Speaker

Ann Majchrzak received her PhD in Social Psychology with a minor in Psychometrics in 1980 from the University of California, Los Angeles.  She is widely known for her research on the use of technology to support worker agility and ingenuity, commonly referred to as socio-technical systems.  Ann has published papers in journals that include the Management Information Systems Quarterly, Information Systems Research, Management Science, and Harvard Business Review.  She is (or has been) a member of the Editorial Review Boards of Information Systems Research and Management Information Systems Quarterly, among others. She is also Senior Editor at Organizational Science.  She is the recipient of the Literati Club Award for Excellence Outstanding Paper for 2005 from Emerald Group Publishing. She was also named the Magid Igbaria Distinguished Scholar by the School of Information Science at Claremont Graduate University.  Ann is the Past Division Chair of the Academy of Management Organization, Communication and Information Systems Division.  Ann has consulted for a variety of organizations, including the Aerospace Corporation, Cummins Engine, and the Jet Propulsion Labs.

COR Seminar
Co-sponsored with Planning, Policy and Design

Design/Build and Construction Management

Barbara Wagner

Senior Vice President, Clark Construction
President, Design/Build Institute of America, Wester Pacific Region

January 21, 11:30 – 12:20 PM
Social Ecology I, Room 200

About the Speaker

Barbara Wagner is a Senior Vice President for Clark Construction’s Western Region. Clark Construction is one of the largest general contractors in the country with over 3.5 billion dollars of annual revenue.  Ms. Wagner has over 25 years of experience in the construction industry. She has extensive experience in both the design/build and sustainable markets.  In addition to heading Business Development for Clark in the Western Region, she is Officer-in-Charge for projects in the Los Angeles area.

Ms. Wagner serves on the board and as current President of DBIA’s (Design Build Institute of America) Western Pacific Region. Ms. Wagner also sits on the Board for the California Center for Construction Education, the Executive Board for the School of Engineering at Catholic University of America and as an appointed member of the Facilities Program Advisory Committee for the State of California Department of Corrections.  She is a graduate of Catholic University earning a BS in Architecture and holds a Masters in Civil Engineering and Construction Management from the University of Maryland. Her professional licenses and accreditations include a contractor and engineer’s license in the state of California and LEED accreditation.

Download Wagner Presentation