We form partnerships with organizations—large corporations, small businesses, not-for-profit organizations, schools, consulting firms large and small—that are interested in the benefits of connecting with MSLOC graduate students, alumni and faculty who have deep expertise in the areas of learning, knowledge management and organizational change. Such partnerships can take many forms—from engaging students in projects to tackle business challenges to sponsoring guest lectures and professional development events to conducting research aimed at advancing the design of organizational effectiveness interventions.
If your organization is interested in becoming an organizational partner, please contact Terri Cramer, MSLOC assistant director, at 847/467-1481 or tcramer@northwestern.edu.
Organizational Partner Projects
Our students work with a variety of organizations as interns or as consultants on a “Practicum Project,” which is a 10-week consulting engagement that all of our master’s students are required to complete. Working individually or in small teams, students partner with their organizational sponsors to develop the scope of work, define deliverables and set expectations for their projects. Then under the guidance of their organizational sponsor and MSLOC faculty coach, students execute their projects to the same high standards expected of experienced organizational consultants. In exchange, our partner organizations make educational contributions to the MSLOC Program in an amount that depends on the scope, resource demands and success of the project. Examples of projects include the following:
- Designing a new employee “onboarding” program to accelerate the transition of new employees into the culture of an insurance company
- Designing a leadership development program for senior consultants of a large consulting firm
- Reviewing and making recommendations for the redesign of a global performance management system for a large manufacturing organization
- Designing a change management toolkit for internal HR generalists to use with their business partners at a global manufacturing company
- Conducting an organizational culture assessment for a small healthcare organization
- Facilitating communication among leaders of a large public school system to help them align their practices with their strategies
- Evaluating the effectiveness of the high-potential leadership development program for a property management company
Information and News for our Organizational Partners
MSLOC Conference
On June 9, 2007, our students hosted a MSLOC Conference titled “Solving the Puzzle of Learning & Leadership.” This half day conference was designed to connect students, alumni, faculty and practitioners interested in the intersection of learning, leadership and change. The conference featured experts who explored relevant topics in leadership and the role that learning plays in developing leaders.CLOC Innovator Lectures
Please visit our site again for a list of our upcoming CLOC Innovator Lecture Series events. If you would like to host one of these events at your organization, please contact Terri Cramer, MSLOC assistant director, at 847/467-1481.Other Links
Center for Learning & Organizational Change (CLOC)
About Our Partnerships
MSLOC Organizational Partners
