promoting, managing and sustaining creativity and innovation
			minimizing the "knowing-doing gap" in organizations
			understanding the role of wisdom in organizational life;
			influencing and managing group and organizational performance

MS & E280 Organizational Behavior and Management, taught by Sutton, is available to distance students each spring. He also teaches segments for both Advanced Project Management and Bootcamp: Redefining IT Leadership, two MS & E-supported Professional Education programs offered through SCPD. Both his teaching and his research reflect what Sutton describes as the School of Engineering's applied mission.


"We focus on research-based management, with an unabashed concern about helping tech-based industries, particularly those with an engineering emphasis. It's one of our greatest strengths," he says. "You must understand industry in order to help it. This is an entrepreneurial school in ways that just aren't true in other universities; there's a strong commitment to get out into industry and apply our research to industry problems. Because of this, the School of Engineering links to the industry community are unparalleled—a tremendous asset for both faculty and students."

"We are trained researchers first," says Sutton, "with a mission to go out into industry to find ways to use our research, to find areas where research is needed. I try to walk between these two worlds, helping companies and using rigorous methodologies. As faculty, we then take this combination of methodology and industry application back into our teaching. We find ways to show the process in industry—how our work actually applies in industry-so that our students can swallow it. It's what I think of a three-tier process: from research, to industry, to the classroom."


Sutton applies this process to his class by using and assigning case studies throughout MS & E 280, to keep students more engaged. "Instead of assigning a case study project at the end of the quarter, I have students do studies related to each topic we cover, at the beginning of every class throughout the quarter. It's more fun and much more relevant."

Humor and casual interaction are part of Sutton's style and effectiveness, but his commitment to distance students is serious. "The range of reports from them was terrific and the quality of their work is excellent. I encourage distance students to e-mail me and I respond immediately. They need some sort of connection beyond the TAs, and I believe that if you are going to teach asynchronously, you need to respond personally and quickly." Sutton points out that SCPD students provide valuable links to companies and will often work with on-campus students to do case study projects, an asset that needs more exploration. "We need to work harder to create cross-company teams and to provide opportunities for on-campus and distance students to work together."

SCPD's support in the classroom was crucial to the class's success last year, according to Sutton. "Gordon Hom, our SCPD tech-support, was fantastic. Most of the time I wasn't aware of the technology—I forgot all about it. I guess that is one of the best things I can say, isn't it?" He pauses, and then adds "Support was there whenever I needed it, on the spot. Actually, the class gave Gordon the standing ovation. You know what? I think they liked him better than me."

Not likely. Graduate students in industry and on-campus repeatedly rate Sutton's course as outstanding. Sudhir Rao of Cisco Systems feels the benefit of Sutton's commitment to them and to offering theory that could be used at work. "He brought in concepts I was able to apply immediately," says Rao, "and the emphasis on case studies and projects was excellent. Professor Sutton's energy, case studies and projects all made me feel part of this course."

Alex Fitzpatrick, also with Cisco, concurs. "I loved the online material—Professor Sutton's course materials and his classes were wonderful. Even taking his course as a distance student, I could appreciate his lectures and the classroom discussion. It's a great course."

Get a feel for this innovative course by visiting the course Web site at http://www.stanford.edu/class/msande280 and click on the Course Outline. Note the required readings and pay close attention to Rule Number Six. Then learn more about Sutton at http://www.weirdideasthatwork.com/aboutbob.html.

Visit all SCPD's MS &E web pages to discover the outstanding career-long learning opportunities this interdisciplinary department offers industry learners.