Hum Relations in Organization

Catalog description

The necessity of constructive conflict in organizations and the inevitability of destructive personal conflict are the reasons for studying human relations. Five books, some classic like Carnegie’s How To Win Friends and Influence People, some near classic like Covey’s The Seven Habits of Effective People, and possible future classics like Sande’s The Peacemaker, are read and discussed. The goal is to improve understanding of conflict: That constructive conflict is healthy and necessary, how creative conflict can degenerate into destructive personal conflict, the causes of team dysfunction, how to achieve team synergy, and personal techniques for engaging in constructive conflict, avoiding destructive conflict and redeeming it should it happen. The Bible is used as a discussion resource. The pre-supposition of the course is that evangelical Christian culture encourages conflict avoidance within the culture and often without. Some strive to be “meek and mild” like Jesus, an aspiration that belies an incomplete understanding of Jesus’ character and behavior. This is a writing course with a strong emphasis on discussion. Meets foundational core social science requirement.