A three-module online learning program highlights the skills and thought models necessary to be a persuasive, effective human resources leader.

Module One: Enhancing Your Persuasion Skills

In this session with leadership expert Jay Conger, you will learn how to improve your persuasive ability. Drawing on his research about the persuasion skills of highly effective leaders, Conger will discuss the tactics that are critical to successful persuasion. You will learn how to position your initiatives so that stakeholders are far more receptive to your ideas and requests. Specifically, you will learn about the four components that make for effective persuasion:

• Building your credibility through powerful substitutes
• Framing your initiative or request for common ground
• Devising more compelling positions in order to persuade
• Connecting on an emotional level

Module Two: The Content of the Persuasive Message

While human resources (HR) professionals spend a great deal of time and effort learning the process of persuasion, and how to become more trusted, respected and credible, the process of persuasion is only one part of success. A key component is the content of the persuasive message. In particular, John Boudreau will discuss how HR professionals can enhance their effectiveness by learning about the "mental models" already used by their clients, and how those proven models can be a powerful persuasive tool for HR-related issues.

Module Three: Roundtable

Ed Lawler will facilitate a discussion among Jay Conger, John Boudreau and HR executives. The panel will be filmed in front of a live audience of HR executives.

Key issues to be addressed:

• HR as a business partner: How can HR make it happen? What does this arrangement look like? What does HR need to bring to the table?
• How can HR pave the way to becoming a strategic partner?
• How do HR professionals interact with their clients? What are the ways in which the relationship can be defined?

Daily: Monday 02/08/2010 - Monday 03/01/2010; All day

Online

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Join students and faculty from the Department of Comparative Literature for a dynamic discussion of new media and the vanishing of the material.

In the morning, keynote speaker Timothy Murray, professor of comparative literature and English at Cornell University and author of Digital Baroque: New Media and Art and Cinematic Folds, will lead a roundtable discussion of papers by USC graduate students. (These papers will be available for online reading on the USC Comparative Literature Web page in the weeks before the symposium.)

In the afternoon, Professor Murray will give a lecture related to the themes of the symposium, followed by a question and answer session.

The USC Comparative Literature Symposium is an annual event organized by the graduate students of the USC Department of Comparative Literature. In the past, it has been funded by several USC College departments and centers and the USC College Graduate Professionalization Initiative. The format changes somewhat each year, but one constant is that distinguished symposium guests — among them Giorgio Agamben, Homi Bhabha, Judith Butler, Jacques Derrida and Samuel Weber — respond to students’ lectures. The USC Department of Comparative Literature has a rich and successful tradition of hosting both emerging and established scholars for symposia, to the great benefit of the campus community.

Lunch will be provided. All faculty and students are welcome to attend.

Friday 02/19/2010: 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM

University Park Campus Social Sciences Building B40

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The 2010 keynote event will focus on the active roles entrepreneurs are taking to address many of the pressing social and environmental challenges in their local communities and around the world. At a time when the labor market remains difficult, many individuals are launching nonprofit or for-profit business ventures and social enterprises whose social mission is as significant or more significant than the financial bottom line.

Three panels will empower entrepreneurs in finance, business branding and social responsibility. A key component of this all-day event is giving attendees specific insights to more effectively run their businesses.

Each panel will include a distinguished group of social entrepreneurs with demonstrated leadership in promoting social responsibility. Two panels of branding and finance professionals will provide expert advice on financing and marketing the socially responsible enterprise.

Recent economic events and lagging job markets have provided the motivation and opportunity for thousands of Southern Californians to launch their own businesses. This event will equip attendees with insights about how a company can have a vision for a “double bottom line.”

This entrepreneurship forum continues USC’s long tradition of leadership in entrepreneurial education. The Lloyd Greif Center for Entrepreneurial Studies at USC is among the nation’s leaders in entrepreneurship education and research and has consistently ranked among the top national programs.

For a full conference schedule, go to marshall.usc.edu/alumni/chapters/losangeles/keynote2010.htm.

Saturday 02/20/2010: 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Junior Achievement Finance Park 6250 Forest Lawn Drive Los Angeles CA 90068

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Go past collecting data to coaching managers. A workshop on using data to tell stories, influence behavior and drive results.

Today, the best leaders win with data. Learn to fuel your organization by combining data, dialogue and understanding to soar ahead of the competition.

Data coaches help leaders and organizations use data from and about employees to drive action that leads to measurable results. Data coaching will take your metrics to the next level.

Objectives:

• Understand the measurement map — a tool that allows participants to audit their current employee and human resources data
• Walk away with a deep understanding of the conditions under which data do or don't drive action
• Develop strategies to refine data and dialogue or to readjust which types of data are being used
• Learn how optimal data strategies drive results
• Obtain tools that are immediately applicable to your organization

This program is focused on building skills. You will be given a pre-work assignment and will use a special tool to learn, practice and build your data coaching skills during the workshop. Participants will take part in team coaching and will actively practice the skills they learn with their peers in the program.

The course will be taught by Theresa Welbourne and Lacey Leone McLaughlin.

Daily: Tuesday 03/16/2010 - Thursday 03/18/2010; All day

Portofino Hotel 260 Portofino Way Redondo Beach CA 90277

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What does it mean to “map the brain”? A USC College symposium gathers scientific minds to probe the question.

Despite the intuitive explanatory power behind maps as a basic functional neural unit and the proposition that they “underlie the derivation of the computational principles that govern sensory processing and the generation of perception,” we still don’t know if the topographic maps of the brain are incidental or functionally essential to brain organization in health and disease. This symposium, organized by USC College’s Tansu Celikel (Neuroscience), gathers scientists to discuss the proposition that topographical organization of the brain is essential to brain organization.

Speakers will include:

• Michael Arbib, USC
• Jose Carmena, UC Berkeley
• Tansu Celikel, USC
• Daniel Feldman, UC Berkeley
• Ron Frostig, UC Irvine
• Judith Hirsch, USC
• David Kleinfeld, UC San Diego
• Stefan Leutgeb, UC San Diego
• Fritz Sommer, UC Berkeley
• Charles Stevens, Salk Institute

Friday 03/26/2010: 8:30 AM - 4:15 PM

University Park Campus Hedco Neurosciences Building Auditorium

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Produced by the Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER) at the USC Marshall School of Business and the U.S. Commercial Service, this conference will provide exceptional access to the information and people who will help you operate profitably in Asia.

Two hundred and fifty participants, 50 sessions, 15 economies, two days, in one event. Asia/Pacific Business Outlook (APBO) is an extraordinary opportunity to meet the people with the clout and contacts essential to your company's success. Meet one-on-one with Asia business experts, and have private appointments with senior commercial officers from American embassies/consulates in 15 economies.

Access a wealth of timely information in two days. APBO offers the latest, relevant information, all focused, organized and distilled. You'll get current intelligence on trade and investment opportunities in each country, and learn which sectors are hot, who's who, and how to navigate the different cultural, social and administrative barriers in each of the 15 economies. You will also get practical solutions to your logistical, legal, financial, marketing, planning and human resource needs from the experts who have been there... and succeeded.

Whether you're an experienced exporter to Asia, new to export, or new to the region, you can customize your conference experience by choosing the seminars, outlooks and workshops you want. More than 50 concurrent sessions let you focus on the topics that matter most to your business.

Some of the topics to be covered:

• Devising market entry strategies and building distribution networks; financing your operation in Asia/Pacific
• Refining communication and negotiation techniques; exporting to Asia for the first time
• Launching products and services in new markets
• Understanding cultural sensitivities and contexts
• Learning of opportunities in new sectors and industries
  

Go to www.apbo2010.com for the latest details.

Dates: 04/19/2010, 04/20/2010: All day

University Park Campus Davidson Conference Center

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This seminar will provide a proven framework that helps leaders in business, human resources (HR) and organization answer this key question.

You will learn and apply the framework featured in Beyond HR (Harvard Business School Publishing) by John Boudreau and Pete Ramstad. Using that framework, Boudreau and Ramstad will show you how to analyze your own strategy to uncover hidden, vital pivot points where your HR and talent management will make their biggest strategic contribution.

The seminar is built on Boudreau and Ramstad's unique "decision science" for talent, which uses many of the same principles of decision sciences, such as finance and marketing. This framework has enabled organizations to achieve true line-of-sight between HR investments and their sustainable strategic success. This framework and the talentship decision science are based on 10 years of research, application and work with leading organizations.

Benefits

• Unique focus on the integration between business strategy, HR strategy, and talent and organization implications
• Hands-on experience with the proven framework featured in the Harvard Business School Publishing book Beyond HR, using developing and analyzing strategies to discover unique strategic value in human and organizational capital
• A guided learning process with a proprietary array of rigorous and practical tools that have been used by organizations such as Allstate, Corning, Deluxe, Microsoft, Northrop Grumman, PepsiCo and The Toro Company
• A workshop-learning approach that is based on leading research in strategy, economics, organizational behavior and psychology

This is a highly interactive workshop. Participants work directly with tools to analyze organizational strategy at all levels. You will use tools to identify the "lenses" that reveal where talent and organization decisions most affect strategic and business success, and the implications for human resource and organization practices. You will practice by applying these tools to available information from organizations, and you will learn about other organizations through discussion and breakout work.

Who Should Attend

This event is for any leaders who want to help their organization find unique strategy opportunities in their talent management strategy and how it is organized and deployed. This includes leaders in human resources, HR strategy, organization effectiveness and talent management. This workshop is particularly valuable for HR generalists, business partners, strategists, functional leaders, leaders outside the HR function, or those with non-HR backgrounds who have recently taken HR leadership positions.

Daily: Wednesday 06/02/2010 - Friday 06/04/2010; All day

Portofino Hotel 260 Portofino Way Redondo Beach CA 90277

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This seminar will show you how to go beyond simple benchmarking to a more strategic and uniquely functional approach to talent management. The focus of the course is designing and implementing a world class talent management system. Drawing upon a broad range of organizations and the latest thinking, participants will learn about best practices and pitfalls across the full spectrum of components — high-potential pools, linchpin or pivot roles, metrics, tracking systems, and talent strategies. Participants will examine out-of-the-box approaches that challenge conventional wisdom.

The seminar will be a pragmatic, application-oriented experience focused on designing and implementing talent management processes.

Presenters will include Jay Conger, John Boudreau and Ed Lawler.

Dates: 09/21/2010, 09/22/2010: All day

Portofino Hotel 260 Portofino Way Redondo Beach CA 90277

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Participants will learn from best-practice examples about the critical design features of well constructed leadership development systems, including action learning, coaching, 360-degree feedback, executive education and on-the-job learning. A central feature of the course will be effectively deploying and implementing these interventions.

This workshop will employ a hands-on, application-oriented approach to leadership development, resulting in a highly interactive and case-based experience.

Presenters will include Jay Conger.

Dates: 09/22/2010, 09/23/2010: All day

Portofino Hotel 260 Portofino Way Redondo Beach CA 90277

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