Executive Coaching and Organizational Consulting (ECOC1-GC)

The MS in Executive Coaching and Organizational Consulting begins with a required residential immersion. The purpose of the residency is to create a close-knit student cohort, facilitate critical face to face interaction with the faculty, and for students to learn the fundamentals of coaching and consulting. During the intensive five-day residency program, students are immersed into the comprehensive three module curriculum and gain the foundation for developing critical professional skills and evidenced based approaches to practice and commitment to professional code of ethics. The course covers coaching and consulting fundamental skills, ethics, values, inclusion, and a client-centric approach to facilitating individual, team, and organizational change and transformation.

Coaching practice has become a focus of scientific inquiry that draws on a number of related domains of study that include behavioral sciences, systems theory, positive psychology, neuroscience, and solutions-focused therapy among others. In this course students analyze academic research publications to draw a connection between research and coaching practice in the field. In addition to the overview of a broad variety of approaches used in different coaching practices, students will become familiar with the thinking emerging from recent non-clinical, solutions-focused approaches within the field of applied psychology. Throughout the course, students gain a working knowledge of the scientific basis for the coaching practice, and familiarity with the wide range of coaching models used in the field.

This course provides the foundational concepts needed to design, conduct, and interpret quantitative and qualitative research in coaching. In this course, students learn to form research questions and hypotheses; collect data; conduct statistical analysis; and write reports, using APA style. Students also learn about constructs, validity, and limitations as well as the legal, ethical, and socially relevant standards required for working with human subjects in applied coaching research.

Understanding Business Strategy is an essential capability for Executive Coaches and Organizational Consultants. This course focuses on the components of a business strategic plan and how to apply it to your work as a coach or consultant. It includes foundational concepts such as: the key components of a business / organization; why businesses need a strategy; why consultants need to understand their client’s strategy; key strategic planning outputs: direction statements, strategic objectives, priority issues and action plans. The course includes discussions about differentiation, brand building, core competencies, value creation, innovation, speed to market, technology, cost reduction and competitive advantage. Students discuss globalization, corporate social responsibility, geo- political impacts, data analytics and insights, shifting demographics, social media, creating both problems and unique opportunities. Throughout the course, students understand business strategy development and implementation. A final assignment involves the creation of an individualized Final Paper utilizing the approaches and techniques learned during the course (for an approved client: individual, team or organization selected by the student). Upon successful completion of the course, students understand strategy paradigms and how to apply their client’s strategy to their work as a coach or consultant. This course will focus on the components of a strategic plan and how to apply it to your work as a coach or consultant. It will include foundational concepts such as: Direction Statements, Strategic Objectives, Priority Issues and Action Plans. Topics will include discussions about differentiation, brand building, core competencies, value creation, innovation, speed to market, technology, cost reduction and competitive advantage. We will also discuss globalization, corporate social responsibility, geo-political impacts, data analytics and insights, shifting demographics, social media, creating both problems and unique opportunities.

In this course, students review core principles of effective communication such as brevity, getting attention, organization, persuasion, and tone—and apply them to an oral presentation and business documents (mostly involving human capital analytics). They tap into their critical thinking skills to produce compelling and meaningful content tied to business outcomes. Through online conversations, students post concise, well-organized and relevant perspectives to case studies and business communication scenarios related to the readings. They also collaborate with classmates in a final project to develop guidelines for an oral presentation. They learn to work with complex data and other facts, synthesizing this information into concise, coherent and compelling content tied to key HR capital issues such as workforce planning, performance measurement and engagement.

Management Consulting is a multidisciplinary field consisting of Strategic Consulting, Operational Consulting, Technology Consulting and Change Management Consulting. Best practices have been created to enable the highest quality deliverables in each consulting discipline. This practical, application-oriented course gives students an opportunity to learn and apply leading processes, tools and techniques to provide high quality consulting services for individuals, teams and organizations. Throughout the course, students learn processes for client arrangements and contracting; problem definition and analysis; data analytics; planning & designing solutions. They also use tools and techniques for proposing and planning, analyzing, designing, implementing, and for continuously improving business performance.

Coaching is more of a spoken language than a set of theories. Students develop core coaching competencies in solutions-focused coaching conversations. Through practice and observation in and out of class, students realize how to set the foundation, apply coaching ethics, and communicate effectively in an internal and external professional coaching engagement. Students deepen knowledge through reflective experiential learning and realize how to facilitate results focused learning and goal attainment.

Group and team coaching provide an affordable time and cost-saving client solution for coaches, HR professionals, leaders, and managers. In this course, students acquire techniques and tools to effectively coach a group or team in-person and online, design their own program, and demonstrate their skills in a supportive class environment. They also compare and contrast the benefits of group coaching, team coaching, individual coaching, facilitation, and training.

Consulting continues to evolve as a core competency inside many organizations and is also growing as an independent profession. Consulting as a skill set continues to specialize, and technology is changing the way work gets done for clients and consultants. In this course, students learn about the latest types of consulting interventions, including Agile Consulting and how AI is influencing consulting work. They also learn about the various certifications and what they mean in the marketplace. The course also introduces students to the latest consulting trends and special topics. They learn about consulting as a business and how to run and grow a consulting practice, requiring marketing and sales (including the proposal process), implementations, and consulting operations.

Consulting Mastery occurs in many ways. Organizational Consulting skills can be applied to any and all business challenges. Consultants not only have to possess the skills about how to be a consultant, they are best served when they understand the specific organizational challenges facing their clients. This course offers an extensive overview of the various types of companies and their unique consulting challenges. Students learn about the various types of industries consultants work in: Consumer & Industrial Products, Technology, Media, Transportation, Utilities & Resources, and Health & Public Services. They also learn about the various functions that consultants support:  Marketing & Sales, Operations, Finance, HR, Legal, M&A. Upon successful completion of this course, students are expected to have knowledge and comprehension of the various types of organizational consulting challenges (e.g., organization type, industry, function) they may face in the future.

In this courses, students synthesize theory and skills acquired in Coaching Practices to develop a deeper facility with evidence-based skills, techniques, and models to drive goal-directed learning and change within individuals and teams. They collaborate with a peer to conduct a real-world coaching engagement. Throughout the course, students gain familiarity with the wide range of contemporary coaching models, tools, techniques, and strategies to help individuals and groups realize potential. The course covers strengths, values-based fulfillment, 360 feedback, creativity, and wellness.

Capstone is the final course in the program and requires students to demonstrate the entire body of knowledge for Executive Coaching and Organizational Consulting. The Capstone course consists of a practical application of the newly acquired skills, working on a specific client project identified in the Research Process and Methodology course that reflect their research interests and add to the body of knowledge on the topics. Students’ finished theses must demonstrate their ability to conduct comprehensive research and articulate original ideas and thought processes that make a practical contribution to the existing body of knowledge in the fields of Executive Coaching and Organizational Consulting. All final papers must be in line with academic and research standards that are consistent with the requirements of current journals and publications and must be approved by an advisor and one other reader from either academia or industry.