Denison Consulting to Address Critical Leadership Issues at ASTD

Denison Consulting, the world's leader in organizational leadership and culture assessment solutions, today announced that it will be co-presenting with the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), the largest government agency that provides logistics support to the U.S. Department of Defense, on business coaching and leadership, at the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) annual conference, www.astd.org, June 1-3, 2009, in Washington, DC, Booth #2023.

Denison Research Associate Ryan Smerek, PhD., will co-present a session entitled "Smoke and Mirrors or the Real Deal? Leadership Development with Results" on June 1,, 2009, from 4:00-5:30 pm, Room #206. Smerek will be joined by the following presenters:

• Edward Visker Colonel, U.S. Army (Ret.), Deputy Commander, Defense Logistics Agency
• Paula Kluczynski, manager of the DLA's centralized new leader development program
• Linda Shaffer-Vanaria , president and founder of Enterprise Coaching of Carlsbad, CA

The ASTD session will address the impact of leadership development in the DLA from four different perspectives: business leader, program manager, lead coach, and research associate. Information discussed will include:

* how leadership development can be implemented into a highly-demanding, fast-paced global organization, like the DLA;
* how improvements in leadership were assessed using the Denison Leadership Development Survey; and
* the measureable changes in leadership behavior that document real evidence and impact to DLA's bottom line.

The DLA is one of the largest government agencies that provides an annual $40 billion of logistics support to the U.S. Department of Defense and has assisted relief efforts for Hurricane Katrina, the 2007 California fires, and other natural disasters around the globe.

About Denison Consulting

Denison Consulting provides the world's best research-based tools and assessment solutions designed to improve the bottom-line performance of leaders, teams, and organizations. Used by more than 5,000 organizations globally, Denison's organizational culture, leadership, and team surveys allow organizations, leaders, and teams to identify strengths and weaknesses that impact sales profitability, quality, innovation, employee satisfaction, customer satisfaction, and financial performance. Based in Ann Arbor, MI, Denison has offices worldwide in North America, Europe and Asia, as well as a global network of licensed distributors, consultants and researchers.

Consultant Transforms Organizational Chaos into Profit

With almost 70% of change initiatives within organizations failing and average employee turnover rates of more than 20%, businesses are constantly challenged with keeping their organization aligned. This means ensuring that its people, its structure and its technology support the company's operations. An organization that is not aligned typically has poor return on investments for technology, high duplication of work efforts and too much time spent on non-value added activities, all resulting in decreased profits. So how do you keep your organization aligned when employees are leaving and change initiatives are failing?

Andrew Miller has developed an approach that organizations can use to transform quickly and smoothly to achieve profitable benefits. He says the key to that approach is that the benefits that can be achieved will coincide with the level of commitment made by the organization to transform. The higher the commitment level, the more benefits will be achieved by the organization.

Miller recently completed a position paper entitled From Chaos to Profit™: How to effectively transform your organization, which discusses how organizations can effectively transform by aligning their processes, people and technology. A copy of the paper can be downloaded at www.acmconsulting.ca/articles.html.

Successful transformation and organizational alignment is something that Miller has been offering his clients for more than a decade, and his paper offers the key elements of this valuable advice to any business. "Writing this paper allowed me to clearly state the value that organizations can achieve by aligning their processes, people and technology. The most challenging aspect of that alignment is for organizations to commit to the transformation and make the connection between that transformation and profitability. I can help organizations make that connection quickly and start realizing those benefits," stated Miller.

Miller is President of ACM Consulting Inc., a company that helps high performance organizations transform by aligning processes, people and technology. He has worked with clients in various industries including Healthcare, Financial Institutions, Consumer Packaged Goods and Distribution. He has held senior consulting positions with IBM Global Business Services and PriceWaterhouseCoopers Consulting and holds an International MBA with majors in Marketing and Logistics.

University of the Rockies Introduces Three New Specializations for Online Students

University of the Rockies (UoR) has begun enrollment for three new specializations available to all UoR students pursuing an online Master's or Doctoral degree in Psychology: Health and Wellness Psychology, Organizational Consulting, and Sports & Performance Psychology.

"Our new specializations look to the future of the field - what experts say Psychology will resemble in 5 to 10 years," said Dr. Stephen Kirkpatrick, Dean of the School of Organizational Leadership for UoR. "This curriculum - as well as our other academic coursework - was designed with that future state in mind, building upon an established, solid foundation of standard Psychology courses."

With special regard to the Heath and Wellness Psychology specialization, Kirkpatrick added, "An increasing number of professionals, including psychologists, social workers, and wellness program business consultants, have begun working in the healthcare field. Research consistently shows a strong return on investment for such programs, and experts agree on their obvious value to individuals, communities and the society as a whole."

While the Organizational Consulting specialization is similar to other UoR specializations, such as Executive Coaching, Organizational Leadership and Business Psychology, this program was specifically designed to prepare students to consult with organizations of all sizes, and on all leadership levels.

"When we constructed this program we were thinking, specifically, of entrepreneurial firms with less than 100 employees," explained Dr. Kirkpatrick. "These firms are often managed by one or more founders and a technical expert. They may enjoy early success, but may also suffer unanticipated loss when they realize they are not mentally prepared to lead an increasingly large team. The curriculum for this program caters to students who wish to fulfill this professional need."

The Sports and Performance Psychology specialization was established to meet a growing demand for trained professionals who are academically prepared to work in the Sports Psychology field.

According to Dr. David Solly, Dean of the School of Professional Psychology for UoR, "Athletes at all levels have devoted increasing attention to mental and emotional preparation in order to achieve peak performance. The same concepts used to apply psychological principles to athletic performance also exist in other arenas, whether the person is a professional basketball player on the court, or a pianist in a concert hall."

Graduates of UoR's Master's and Doctoral Psychology degree programs with a specialization in Health and Wellness Psychology will be academically prepared for careers in healthcare education, patient and/or employee wellness and personal coaching. Those who specialize in Organizational Consulting may opt to become senior associates in a technical, business, or management consulting firm, or may chose to assume leadership positions in organizations dedicated to quality management, process improvement or organizational development. Ideal careers for students graduating with an MA or PsyD in Psychology, specialization in Sports & Performance Psychology, include: sports psychologist, performance coach, sales motivation trainer, team psychologist and teaching professional.

As with most academic Psychology programs, students interested in obtaining professional certification or licensure should consult the regulations and statutes in the state(s) where they plan to pursue their careers. Additionally, the Association for Applied Sports Psychology (AASP) certifies member practitioners as sports psychologists. Students may become certified in AASP, separate from state licensure. While the curriculum for UoR's Sports & Performance Psychology specialization follows AASP guidelines, it does not guarantee AASP certification, and students are encouraged to consult AASP directly.

To learn more or to apply, visit: http://www.rockies.edu.


About University of the Rockies

University of the Rockies is a graduate school specializing in psychology programs at the master's and doctoral levels at its campus in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Regionally accredited by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, University of the Rockies also offers specialized degree programs online. San Diego-based Bridgepoint Education is the parent company of University of the Rockies, formerly known as the Colorado School of Professional Psychology. University students provide free and low-cost psychological services to the underserved through the University of the Rockies Foundation's Switzer Center. The Foundation is an independent, not-for-profit organization supporting students through scholarships, assistantships and other activities. For more information, please visit www.rockies.edu.