All the best,
 
Bob Quinn and Dave Mayer, Faculty Co-Directors
 

Change and Growth
 A generous gift from Terence E. Adderley has fueled much of our recent transformation.  In September, we launched a new website as the Center for Positive Organizations. The new name is a reflection of our aspiration to build on our foundation of rigorous, empirical research in the field of positive organizational scholarship (POS), and to expand our impact through events, education programs, corporate partnerships, research-in-action teaching tools, and as the hub for information about POS.  Gretchen Spreitzer, Faculty Co-Director for 2013-14, noted, "This name change captures the essence of who we are—scholars who seek to make a positive difference in the world.  While scholarship remains our foundation, our new name points to our desire to make a positive difference through our teaching, practice, and tools.”  In addition to launching a new website, we expanded interaction with our community online through Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter, and intensified our outreach via mainstream media channels.  In early 2012, Chris White came on as managing director of the Center, and built a staff team to better support our activities and aspirations.  In April, we welcomed Cascade CEO Fred Keller as our first executive-in-residence, and in May, we were gratified to be part of the inaugural annual Michigan Ross Positive Business Conference.   In July, David Mayer began his tenure as Faculty Co-Director, serving alongside Robert Quinn, and replacing Gretchen Spreitzer, who stepped down as she began her Sabbatical. We have also launched the Positive Organizations Consortium for leaders aspiring to create high-performing organizations that bring out the best in people. For more information on these and other topics, please read on!
 

Research
POS Research Conference  - Join us at the next POS Research Conference, being held June 23-24,  2015, as we share and advance qualitative and quantitative research in the field. This biennial gathering of top scholars features developmental research sessions geared toward building the next generation of POS research; the theme is Illuminating Research for a Positive Future.  Visit posresearchconference.com for more information, including the Call for Abstracts.   The POS Research Conference will also feature a keynote address by the winner of the 2015 Award for Best Paper in POS – watch for a Call for Submissions soon! 

NOTE: The POS Research Conference is immediately preceding The Fourth World Congress on Positive Psychology presented by IPPA, June 25-28, 2015.

Community of Scholars – Please visit the recently-updated  Community of Scholars webpage to see who in the world is working on POS research topics.  To join, please complete the “Connect with Us” form on the Contact page.

POS Research Incubator – Now in its tenth year, this intimate forum for presenting and discussing in-progress POS research is a vital benefit for University of Michigan-based researchers, and the occasional visiting scholar.  
 

Publications by CPO Faculty Members
Books

The Best Teacher in You: How to Accelerate Learning and Change Lives,  by Bob Quinn, Katherine Heynoski, Mike Thomas, and Gretchen Spreitzer.

Negotiating Genuinely, by Shirli Kopelman.  

How to be a Positive Leader, edited by Jane Dutton and Gretchen Spreitzer. 
NOTE: Valuable teaching resources are available on our website.

United America, by Wayne Baker.

The Oxford Handbook of Positive Organizational Scholarship, edited by Kim Cameron and Gretchen Spreitzer, is now available in paperback and online for subscribers to http://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/, in addition to the original hardcover version.




Articles and Chapters in Books

CPO faculty members also published journal articles and chapters in books.  Complete list of Publications and Presentations.
 

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Teaching Materials


Positive Leadership, The Game joins the Reflected Best Self Exercise and the Job Crafting Exercise.

COMING SOON: The Task Enabling Exercise. 

Our website has a rich Teaching Resources page – it includes Course Syllabi, Teaching Cases, and materials on Teaching with a Positive Lens that had been shared at professional development workshops at recent AOM annual meetings.  Teaching cases include two new offerings by Wayne Baker on Zingerman’s, an Ann Arbor-based “small giant.”
 

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Student Programs
We have expanded our  Educational Offerings:  We now have a Positive Organizations Fellows Program during the academic year for 30 students, and 18 students are part of this year’s Positive Organizations Summer Fellows Program, in which students work on projects with faculty or staff members and participate in weekly lunch-and-learn sessions.  Many of the participants describe their fellowship experience as an incredible catalyst for positive growth and change in their lives. CPO faculty teach a variety of courses grounded in POS, and mentor doctoral students. In addition, a team of students from our fellowship program coordinated the Positive Business Project for the Michigan Ross Positive Business Project (see below, under Events).

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Events
Positive Links Speaker Series – We expanded this flagship program, featuring academics and practitioners speaking on the links of POS research to practice, to eight sessions this year.  Highlights included University of North Carolina's Barb Fredrickson, a leading scholar on positive emotions and human flourishing, sharing the latest developments in her research in her talk, Positivity Resonates.

For the upcoming 2014-15 series, authors of chapters in How to be a Positive Leader: Small Actions, Big Impact share insights from their research.  Most Positive Links sessions are live-streamed via a link from our Events page, and then a listing is added to our Videos page post-session.

Michigan Ross Positive Business Conference  – It was exciting and energizing to be part of the inaugural event in May, as facilitators of workshops, as presenters, and as attendees! Video feeds of some of the sessions are available on the Video Archive page of the Positive Business Conference website.  The second PBC is scheduled for May 14 - 15, 2015. A team of CPO student fellows coordinated the Positive Business Awards – watch the video entries of the grand prize winner, UAE Exchange, and of the finalists to be inspired and amazed.
 

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Corporate Relations
Fred Keller, Our First Executive-in-Residence - Cascade Engineering CEO Fred Keller joined the Center for Positive Organizations in April for a two-year appointment as our first Executive-in-Residence.  Keller brings with him insights formed over 40 years while building Cascade Engineering, which has been celebrated with awards and media coverage for its innovative practices, and its compassionate approach to conducting business for the good of shareholders, employees, communities, and the environment.  Keller’s appointment represents a further step by the Center for Positive Organizations in bringing research-based practices to organizational leaders in inspiring and practical ways. Full Article

Video - Fred Keller's February 2013 conversation with Center for Positive Organizations Managing Director Chris White.

Positive Organizations Consortium
This is a catalytic, co-learning forum for leaders aspiring to create high-performing organizations that bring out the best in their people.  Our members pursue exceptional organizational performance while building extraordinarily positive workplace cultures. More information is available on the Positive Organizations Consortium webpage.
 

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