Concentrations

Students in our degree programs may, if they wish, concentrate in a sub-discipline. For some students, a concentration offers a way to signify to employers a depth of knowledge in an adjacent subject. Organizational Dynamics Programs students who complete the four course units in a single concentration will earn a graduate certificate in addition to the master’s degree.

A student should declare a concentration no later than the end of their first year of study.

Concentrating in Leadership and Organizational Coaching (LOC) is distinct in the Organizational Dynamics Programs: It is a cohort program and requires an additional interview during the application process.

LOC provides the academic foundations and practical experience necessary to either begin a career in professional coaching or integrate a coaching approach into a leadership or management role in any field. Courses in this concentration explore:

  • The core psychological and developmental theories that inform coaching practice
  • The principles and methodologies that enable coaches to make a positive and lasting impact on individuals, groups, and systems
  • The step-by-step process of planning and navigating the business of coaching      

This concentration is intended for individuals interested in gaining in-depth knowledge and hands-on experience in the field of leadership and executive coaching.    

Who should consider the Leadership and Organizational Coaching (LOC) concentration?

  • Practitioners interested in incorporating coaching principles and tools as part of their leadership repertoire in an existing or future leadership role
  • Managers, leaders, or HR personnel interested in facilitating cultural and organizational change, developing leaders, or increasing managerial effectiveness
  • Practitioners of coaching looking for a competitive edge and in-depth mastery to help distinguish them in the growing field of professional coaching
  • Individuals seeking to cultivate a robust understanding of group dynamics and their own roles as leaders and members of groups and teams

LOC uses a proven cohort learning model to create and foster a vibrant learning community. The experiential design of this program blends scholarly work, supervised hands-on practice, and independent study in a format that allows students to continue working full-time while they complete their coursework.

LOC concentration students also have an opportunity to practice applying their skills in the “real world” through two optional, semester-long field placement experiences in select organizations. Each field placement constitutes a complete coaching engagement, from contracting to data collection, reporting, intervention, and disengagement. Individual and group supervision by Penn LOC faculty ensure that students successfully navigate the challenges of practice, while gaining competence and confidence through reflection and experiential learning.

NOTE: LOC has limited space. Organizational Dynamics Programs applicants who are interested in LOC should indicate this interest on their application by selecting “Organizational Coaching” from the list of Organizational Dynamics Programs concentrations.

Students who complete this concentration earn a Graduate Certificate in Leadership and Organizational Coaching.

The Organizational Culture and Change (OCC) concentration includes action-oriented frameworks and methods for diagnosing, planning, and leading change in organizations. Students will learn about the dynamics of organizational culture and change and how to prepare, structure, support, and lead change initiatives in the current work environment.

This concentration is suited for aspiring and established administrators, project managers, directors, executives, and consultants who plan to become leaders of strategic change.

Recent courses in this concentration include:

  • Organizational Diagnosis
  • Applied Organizational Change: Methods Dojo
  • Organizational Culture Change: Theory and Practice
  • Crisis Communications and Reputation Risk

Students who complete this concentration earn a graduate certificate in Organizational Culture and Change. Applicants who are interested in OCC should indicate this interest on their application by selecting “Leading and Managing through Change” from the list of Organizational Dynamics Programs concentrations.

The Sustainable Development (SD) concentration explores an organization’s ability to meet its needs and interests while ensuring that future generations may do the same. The ways in which an organization builds and supports a culture that systemically integrates meeting the triple‐bottom‐line (people/social, product/economic and planet/environment) sits at the core of this concentration.

This concentration is suited to those who appreciate that perhaps the greatest challenge in creating a sustainable culture is changing the patterns of behavior and practice of an organization’s members and partners. Some of our SD-focused courses include travel outside the United States. We also encourage students in this concentration to take one or two courses in Penn’s Master of Environmental Studies program.

Recent courses in this concentration include:

  • Fundamentals of Sustainability
  • Sweden: Strategies for Thriving in the 21st Century
  • Entrepreneurship and Sustainable Development in Panama

Students who complete this concentration earn a graduate certificate in Sustainable Development. Applicants who are interested in OCC should indicate this interest on their application by selecting “Sustainable Development” from the list of Organizational Dynamics Programs concentrations.

Contact us

Have any questions about the Organizational Dynamics programs? Reach out to our program or enrollment teams for a one-on-one discussion.

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Photo of Kelly Rebmann Shepperson, MSOD ’22

Student & alumni stories

“Completing the degree was also very much in service to me and what I think my future beyond the traditional corporate world can be.” - Kelly Rebmann Shepperson, MSOD ’22