Conference topics:

LANGDON WINNER: THE POLITICS OF DESIGN
JANUARY 15 THROUGH FEBRUARY 28
Design has become a subject of major importance for executives because it is increasingly recognized as having significant political and organizational consequences. Dr. Winner, professor of science and technology studies at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and a leading authority on the social and political effects of technology , will show how the design of products and systems invisibly, surprisingly and sometimes counterproductively shapes contemporary life. Further, he will discuss what the silent language of design and technology has to say about our experiences of power, authority, freedom and democratic participation.

PETER SCHWARTZ: THE ART OF THE LONG VIEW
MARCH 15 THROUGH APRIL 30
As president of the Global Business Network, and in his previous positions as head of Business Environment Planning for Royal Dutch Shell in London and director of the Strategic Environment Center at SRI, Peter Schwartz has become one of the world's most experienced and respected business planners. In this seminar he will discuss the problems and advantages of looking ahead, the uses of scenario-based planning and the development of better ways of thinking about the future.

NICHOLAS JOHNSON: THE MANAGEMENT OF HEALTH
MAY 15 THROUGH JUNE 30
U.S. health care costs are $600 billion, headed for $1 trillion, and buying less than most industrialized countries get for the money. Worldwide, tens of millions are dying needlessly. Losses from employees' disease and accidents are in the billions of dollars, not to mention the human misery of less than fully actualized lives. Nicholas Johnson is a former FCC commissioner and presidential advisor, now co-director of the Institute for Health, Behavior and the Environment and a professor at the University of Iowa College of Law. In this seminar, he will explore how we can bring the wide range of management skills and disciplines to this overwhelming challenge facing corporations, government, communities, families and individuals.

DONALD MICHAEL: LEADERSHIP IN A WORLD OF CHALLENGED AND CHANGING BOUNDARIES
JULY 20 THROUGH AUGUST 31
From the self to the planet, boundaries--psychological, ethical, social, institutional-- are changing, blurring and disappearing, engendering both deep anxiety and exhilaration. Dr. Michael, emeritus professor of planning and public policy at the University of Michigan, will explore the reactions to this situation, ranging from fundamentalism to endless diversification, from fear and anger to enthusiasm and social invention, and discuss the appropriate leadership, governance and management responses.

WALTER TRUETT ANDERSON: POSTMODERN MANAGEMENT
SEPTEMBER 15 THROUGH OCTOBER 31
Whatever may be the goods or services in which an organization deals, the stock in trade of management is always information. Postmodernist thought, which holds that reality is socially created, offers new perspectives on the notion of information, as well as other management issues such as personal identity , leadership roles, corporate culture and public opinion. Continuing the subject of his most recent book, Reality Isn't What It Used To Be, noted author and political scientist Dr. Walter Truett Anderson takes a look at management in a postmodern age.

KRISTIN SHRADER-FRECHETTE: ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS
NOVEMBER 15 THROUGH DECEMBER 31
There is a saying, among one of the Bantu tribes of Southwest Africa, that a person should not shoot a bird resting on her own head. In ignoring our interdependence with other inhabitants of the planet, we have, in essence, shot many birds on our own heads. Kristin Shrader-Frechette, distinguished professor at the University of South Florida and author of seven books, including her most recent, Risk and Rationality, will examine a number of such difficult questions as: Is the environmental crisis exaggerated? Do we need a new system of ethics to deal with environmental problems? Do future generations, plants, or animals have any moral rights? Are countries justified in coercively limiting population? How do we reconcile economic progress and environmental welfare? With pollutants causing an estimated 90% of all human cancers and species extinctions occurring at more than 1,000 per year, these questions must be addressed responsibly and soon.

Sample Symposia from 1991:

WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP
JANUARY 14-27
How do male and female executives differ in style and substance, if at all? What would be different if the corporate ladder had been built by "good old girls?" Do staff-CEO relationships differ based on the gender of the CEO? These and other issues will come under scrutiny as SMSS members of both genders, who deal with this subject professionally. conduct this two-week symposium.

FUTURE OF THE COMPUTER
MARCH 1-15
The computer helps us to compose, calculate and communicate. Our children use them as learning tools and our businesses use them to project, analyze and manage. Supercomputers chum out calculations at ever increasing speeds. What's left to do? What direction will the creative mind point the computer next? Join the leaders of computer manufacturing companies in this behind-the-scenes look at the direction of computing in the '90s.

TRAINING IN CORPORATE AMERICA
MAY 1-15
Billions of dollars are spent on corporate training every year, but how well is this training managed and reinforced? Are training programs geared towards career and personal enhancement or used merely as perks or punishments? Relate your own experience and learn other accomplishments and mistakes as SMSS training and human relations specialists take a close look at the effectiveness of training.

LATINIZATION OF AMERICA
JULY 1-14
The incredible influx of immigrants from the south, legal and otherwise, has made the Spanish language more common than English in many parts of the United States. Although the U.S. has always been proud of its reputation as a "melting pot," will it be able to assimilate the Latin culture or will this culture remain outside of what many regard as "real America ?" What does this mean for our schools, workplaces, and government? Will it affect you and your organization?

BUSINESS AND THE ARTS
SEPTEMBER 1-14
What is the corporation's responsibility in supporting the arts, and the arts' responsibility to the corporation? Is financial support simply altruistic, or is the economic benefit mutual? This two-week symposium will hear from artists and CEOs alike with a dialogue on the direction of corporate and government support of art around the world.

CALIFORNIA- WINDOW TO THE WORLD
NOVEMBER 1-15
The state of California is one of the largest economic forces in the world, as well as the home of innovators and risk-takers. It is this region that gave us Silicon Valley as well as Hollywood, and where environmentalists compete with developers for control of its precious resources. The world watches California for indications of what might happen at home. Join panelists from California and abroad in a closer look at the phenomenon of the Golden State.