Make a Positive Impact on Your Organization
In the Organization Development and Knowledge Management (ODKM) program, students become effective organizational interveners allowing them to make a positive impact on their organizations. The curriculum is designed with a threefold approach to learning through Knowing, Doing, and Being.
- KNOWING: Students build knowledge through learning organization development theory and research
- PRACTICE: Graduates become proficient in how to intervene through practical application of OD principles, experiential learning, and skill building
- BEING: Throughout the program, students explore self as an instrument of change through inner development, mindfulness, and reflective practice.
Under the umbrella of organization development, students will become well-versed in organizational studies, knowledge management, and coaching, all of which are disciplines within the field of OD and highlighted in the ODKM program. Additionally, the program is grounded in an appreciative approach to organization development, building on the positive aspects of a system, i.e. what is already working, in lieu of a deficit approach, which is focused on fixing what does not work.
What is Organization Development?
Organization Development (OD) is the planned process of change in an organization’s culture through the utilization of behavioral science, technology, research, and theory (Burke, 2014). It is also a long-range effort to improve an organization’s problem-solving capabilities and its ability to cope with changes in its external environment with the help of external or internal behavioral scientist consultants (French & Bell, 1999).
How is Organization Development relevant in today’s world?
Over the past 25 years technology has increased the speed of change in organizations and our collective human capacity to keep up with the speed of change has lagged. The current state of organizations has resulted in existential human and organizational crises that are unsustainable. We do not currently have the collective capacity to manage the sheer amount of information and complexity in the workplace of today.
Specific organizational challenges include:
- Unmanageable stress and burnout
- Permanent white water (Vaill, 1995), disorientation, and a lack of grounding
- Increasing complexity, volatility, and ambiguity
- Post-pandemic fragility and heightened anxiety AND human capital shortage and hybrid work environment
- Fewer resources with more demand
As organizational life has changed and continues to evolve rapidly, different skills, knowledge, and development are needed as well. The Organization Development and Knowledge Management (ODKM) program supports the development and effectiveness of professionals interested in making a positive difference in organizational life by equipping them with the knowledge, skills, and present-moment awareness to navigate today’s complexity.
What is Knowledge Management?
Knowledge Management (KM) is the process of capturing, developing, and effectively using organizational knowledge. (Davenport, 2000)
What is coaching?
Coaching refers to an intentional conversational process in which the coach uses inquiry, feedback, and resources in support of the client’s self-directed learning, to increase their self-awareness and capacity to manage relationships and navigate their environments. (Potter, 2017, p. 2)
What other theoretical and practical disciplines does the ODKM curriculum draw from?
- Change management
- Leadership
- Systems theory, management, and thinking
- Industrial/organizational and positive psychology
- Social justice
- Quantitative and qualitative research
- Mindfulness
- Organizational learning
- Human and adult development
- Facilitation
- Human-centered design
Email us: schar@gmu.edu
Call: 703-993-8099
Upcoming Virtual Information Sessions
- ODKM Information Session: Monday, December 16, noon to 1 p.m. ET (Virtual)
Key Program Features
- No GRE or GMAT required to apply.
- In-state tuition for Virginia residents; equivalent rate for D.C. and Maryland residents
- Cohort program
- Executive schedule (classes on Friday evenings and Saturdays)
- 33 credit hours over five semesters, usually completed in 20 months
- Live hybrid format (all class materials is presented live and synchronously with no recorded classes; some classes are virtual, some classes are in-person)
- Experientially-based curriculum (i.e. learning by doing)
Equipping Graduates to Navigate Today’s Working World
Graduates will leave the program with the ability to positively contribute to improving organizational culture, climate, and team environments, ultimately supporting organizations in moving toward more connected, humane, and transformative social enterprises. Skills you will gain include:
- Organizational and Societal: systems thinking, knowledge management processes, organizational analysis and diagnostic tools, appreciative inquiry, action research, facilitation, design thinking, dialogical organization development, and organizational transformation
- Group: coaching skills, dialogue, change conversations, and process work
- Individual: analytical skills, emotional intelligence, mindfulness, appreciative intelligence, and reflection
Become a Certified Coach
As part of the master’s program, students enroll in two required courses on coaching: Foundations of Coaching and Coaching and Organization Development, which they can use to partly fulfill coach education hours required by various accrediting bodies such as the International Coach Federation (ICF) and European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC). View the ODKM coaching courses.
"I believe that being a part of this [master's program] was one of the best decisions I have taken. The program creates a wonderful learning experience that provides students with a strong theoretical foundation covering current thinking on [organization development] and [knowledge management] in a rich experiential cohort-based learning environment."
Ajay Narayanan
Master of Organization Development and Knowledge Management
D.C. and Maryland Pricing Discount
Master's or certificate students who reside in Washington, D.C., and Maryland can qualify for a tuition rate is equivalent to the in-state rate! This new policy applies to Schar School students who begin their degree in fall 2023 or later.
Where Our Recent Graduates Work
Academia: 12%
Federal Government: 13%
Private Sector - Consulting: 25%
Private Sector - General: 50%
Data gathered from recent graduates from from 2022-23
Top Employers of Recent Graduates
- Accenture
- Brighter Strategies
- Booz Allen Hamilton
- Deloitte Consulting
- Defense Logistics Agency
- Grant Thornton
- GroupSense
- Organization of American States
- Pew Charitable Trusts
- Target Corporation
- The World Bank
- U.S. Department of Defense
- U.S. Department of Homeland Security
- U.S. Department of Labor
"I am in awe at the level of intentionality that is built into the program for its students to undergo a transformational and life-changing experience. As a result of this phenomenal program, I am not only a trained [organization development] practitioner, I now have a completely new sense of awareness, mindfulness, and way of being."
Lea M. Pickett, Master of Organization Development and Knowledge Management
The Master of Science in Organization Development and Knowledge Management program is a 35- to 38-credit executive format program.
Students work in teams and complete most of the courses in sequence. The second academic year includes an action learning component, in which participants undertake projects in organizations and apply research methods.
Core Curriculum
Students are required to take the following core courses:
- Foundations of Organization Development and Knowledge Management
- Group Dynamics and Team Learning
- Social and Organizational Inquiry
- Creating Learning Organizations
- Foundations of Coaching
- Coaching and Organization Development:
- Knowledge Management and Collaborative Work
- Leadership and Social Justice
- Organizational Development Practices
- Learning Community
ODKM Insights: Sensebreaking Leadership
Insights from Faculty in the Master of Organization Development and Knowledge Management Program
Leadership scholarship is in the process of making an evolutionary leap. The old notions of the leader being a charismatic lone actor who rides in on a white horse, saving the day and fixing everything, are fading into the past. This evolution is a process of sensebreaking leadership.
Stacey K. Guenther
Practitioner Faculty
With George Mason University's prime location in the Washington, D.C. area, Schar School students gain access to leading scholars and practitioners who bring real-world experience to the classroom, providing you with the mentorship and skill sets needed to advance in your career. The Schar School has 80+ faculty members, as well as hundreds of adjunct faculty, allowing students to gain access to a variety of perspectives and subjects through elective courses.
Meet ODKM Program Faculty
Barbara Fillip, Adjunct Faculty
bfillip@gmu.edu
Lauren Green, Adjunct Faculty
lgreen13@gmu.edu
Stacey K. Guenther, Adjunct Faculty
sguenthe@gmu.edu
John Hovell, Adjunct Faculty
jhovell@gmu.edu
Penny Potter, Adjunct Faculty
ppotter1@gmu.edu
Ann Romosz, Adjunct Faculty
aromosz@gmu.edu
Tojo Thatchenkery, Professor; Director, Organization Development and Knowledge Management Program
tthatchen@gmu.edu
Professor Tojo Thatchenkery
Program Director