Thursday, August 20, 2009

Welcome to The Organizational Scientist

by Ben Baran

Being part of something new is a big responsibility. That’s because much of what occurs early on shapes what remains years later. So it’s up to those in the beginning—the pioneers, if you will—to ensure that the wheels they set in motion will blaze a trail worth following. It’s my opinion that the success of the Organizational Science doctoral program tomorrow rests in large part on the deliberate progress we make today.

And with that thought in mind, a group of students came together in the spring of 2009 to discuss creating a newsletter. Our idea was to create a central forum that could provide a glimpse of who we are and what we do as a doctoral program. Additionally, we thought it important that this forum serve as a historical record that future students and faculty members could look back upon as a reminder of the program’s progress.

Five students—Marisa Adelman, Joe Allen, Ashley Andrew, Daniel Bonilla, and Kate Frear—volunteered to help. Fortunately, they stuck around even after I offered to spearhead the effort. And it’s because of their hard work and tolerance regarding my often-ambiguous suggestions that this online document came to fruition.

We chose to use an interactive Web-based format instead of a traditional layout designed for printing after much deliberation. Our primary reasons for this decision were that the Web-based format (a) saves trees, (b) is always online, (c) can be viewed from anywhere with an Internet connection, (d) is cutting-edge and interactive, and (e) it's flexible, adaptable, and can change as the program does.

To get the most of this newsletter and its interactive online format, here are a few features that you might find useful.

  • Read more. As you can see, when viewing the main page, only the beginning of each article appears. Following the “read more” link will take you to the full story. To return to the main page, simply click the “back” link on your browser or click on the main banner image at the top of the screen.

  • Comments. You’ll notice that at the end of every article, there is a link for comments. Feel free to post a comment on any article if you have something you’d like to share. To avoid spam, all comments are moderated. This means that the editorial staff will have the chance to approve comments before they become publicly visible. I mention this not to discourage comments; rather, I only want to point out that your comments may not appear instantaneously. So comment away.

  • E-mail an article. You’ll also notice that there is a link, which looks like an envelope with an arrow on it, near the comment link that you can use to e-mail a specific article to anyone whom you choose.

  • List of newsletter topics. In the right-hand column near the top of the page, there is a list of topics. Click on any of these to view articles that have been categorized into the topics listed. This will be especially useful once multiple issues of the newsletter have published on this site.

Please keep in mind that this newsletter is a work in progress. We plan to systematically review what we’re doing right and what we could do better so that it continues to improve and meet your needs.

Finally, please say thanks to the five people I mentioned above. They, not I, were the true horsepower behind the newsletter’s written content. Our current plan—which is subject to change, of course—is to publish issues in late August, early January, and late May. Please contact me with any comments or questions, and I hope you enjoy this issue. This is our newsletter; let’s work together to make it a positive imprint on who we are and what we do.

Cheers,

Ben Baran
Editor-in-Chief

Posted by Organizational Scientist at 5:18 PM
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4 comments:

Unknown said...

Congratulations on a terrific inaugural issue of the Organizational Scientist! and welcome to the new cohort...see you all next year.

Beth Rubin

9:57 AM
Organizational Scientist said...

Thanks for your kind words, Dr. Rubin! We hope your time away from campus goes well, and we look forward to your return. Thanks again.

10:06 AM
Cliff said...

Great job on this newsletter. Well done!

10:31 AM
Organizational Scientist said...

Thanks for the support, Dr. Scott. We're thrilled that you like it.

10:40 AM

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