Linda Ridley

Professor Linda Ridley of the Business Department is a 2015 recipient of the prestigious Case Centre Scholarship for Case Writing. Professor Ridley is proud and excited to be included in a cohort of 16 professors worldwide, only three of whom represent American universities. http://www.thecasecentre.org/educators/submitcases/scholarships/Current.  Prof. Ridley’s entry into the annual competition is a case study titled Symptomatic Leadership: The Impact of Changing Demographics on Global Business. This case examines the implementation of symptomatic thinking in a corporate environment with an aim towards encouraging authentic leadership in a world of changing demographics.

Traditional approaches to diversity learning are remarkable in their consistent gaps when it comes to addressing historical inequities as an avenue to understanding future opportunities for business when inclusion is emphasized. The current environment of changing demographics, not only domestically but globally, requires, indeed, deserves a more focused approach to addressing this multicultural landscape as the majority/minority language takes on a different shape. The case provides the background and substance to educate the reader in that regard.
The process for scholarship compliance is a six-month period devoted to first drafting the case. The case will then be reviewed by trained case writers from around the world, who will provide feedback to all scholarship recipients, for a period of multiple rewrites over the following six months. An important component of the learning is attendance at a case writing workshop. Only three venues host workshops: IBSS (the International Business School at Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU) in China in Spring, 2015; INSEAD in Fontainebleau, France in Summer, 2015; and one in North America, which will be chosen and scheduled for Fall 2015.

The case study method is utilized by business professors worldwide at the graduate and undergraduate level. Cases can focus on a myriad of areas – in addition to all spheres of management, other disciplines such as accounting, finance, entrepreneurship, international business, marketing, negotiation, social enterprise, and strategy are included. Prof. Ridley, who teaches BUS 100, BUS 201, and BUS 220, integrates management and marketing case studies here at Hostos by having students collaborate in teams to analyze business dilemmas. After group discussion, students then provide answers to directed questions. Students are stimulated and challenged as teams are encouraged to critique and even debate other teams’ responses. The result is healthy dialogue and scaffolded learning.

The Symptomatic Thought Process® was created by global consultant Edgar J. Ridley. it is a management concept geared towards replacing symbolic behavior patterns with an alternative, symptomatic thinking, for more effective decision-making. The outcome of such a behavior transformation will end global conflict. For detailed information, see Ridley’s latest book, The Golden Apple: Changing the Structure of Civilization.

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Eugenio María de Hostos Community College
500 Grand Concourse, Bronx, New York 10451
718-518-4444