The Management Exercises: An Implementation Progress Report

In respectfully emulating the Spiritual Exercises as envisioned by Ignatius Loyola, The Management Exercises prepares students at both the undergraduate and graduate levels to be better leaders and, thus, better citizens. The intensive nature of The Management Exercises requires students to reflect on their values in relation to the why and what of management action, not just the how. The idea and initial design for The Management Exercises was presented at the 2016 CJBE Conference held at LeMoyne College in Syracuse, NY. In just two years, we have learned much as The Management Exercises have been fully implemented in the USF School of Management MBA program. Additionally, interest in The Management Exercises has grown. The Management Exercises have been presented at conferences (e.g., the 2017 annual Graduate Management Admissions Council (GMAC) Conference), at various meetings (e.g., the AJCU business deans and JeBNET), to faculty and administrators from Loyola-Chicago and Georgetown, and to potential donors. An article about The Management Exercises is forthcoming in the magazine, Inner Compass. We propose an interactive workshop open to those who wish to learn more about The Management Exercises and its implementation. We invite our colleagues to engage with the Canvas-supported design in order to develop a more concrete idea of the program and the possibilities it presents for application in their home institutions. Specifically, the workshop would be divided into three sections, each of which will highlight student reactions. First, we will provide an overview of the design of The Management Exercises. The four modules that comprise The Management Exercises can be offered as a stand-alone face-to-face course, a hybrid course (mixing face-to-face and online interaction), or as a fully online course. The content we will share was designed for a graduate MBA population but the structure can be adapted for undergraduate populations as well. (Please note: we require access to the Internet to demonstrate how The Management Exercises is presented via Canvas.) Second, we will address the challenges related to the implementation of The Management Exercises in our MBA program, the changes made to The Management Exercises since implementation, and current inquiries and initiatives around offering The Management Exercises to USF staff and alumni. Finally, we invite an open discussion on how best to adapt The Management Exercises in one's institution to conclude the workshop. Based on the extensive questions fielded at the GMAC Conference and other presentations, we would dedicate at least half of the allotted time to this discussion.