Center for Positive Organizations Partners with Humax Corporation to Help Businesses Implement Positive Practices

November 13, 2013

Series of Practical Tools Foster Collaboration, Energize Organizations and Enable Companies and Individuals to Reach Goals

Ann Arbor, Mich. – Nov. 12, 2013 –The Center for Positive Organizations at the University of Michigan’s Stephen M. Ross School of Business, a world-class research center fostering the creation and growth of positive organizations, today announced that it has partnered with Humax Corporation, a leader in bringing the benefits of network science to individuals and organizations around the world. The work of both organizations is rooted in Positive Organizational Scholarship (POS), a field of Management and Organizations devoted to studying and revealing practices that enable organizations and individuals to excel. This partnership of two of the most respected and established organizations in the field of POS gives leaders at companies and non-profit organizations a suite of practical tools to turn proven research and processes into action in their organizations.

“We are passionate about spreading the science of building high-performing organizations that bring out the best in people,” said Chris White, managing director of the Center for Positive Organizations. “One of the most impactful ways we do this is by combining our research and the proven results we’ve delivered into real-world tools that can be leveraged by organizations of all sizes, across industries. There are tremendous synergies between this and Humax’s mission, which makes them an ideal partner to further extend the reach of Positive Organizational Scholarship concepts into businesses today and long into the future.”

Through the partnership, the Center for Positive Organizations will augment the existing portfolio of tools it has developed to guide organizations in understanding and implementing Positive Organizational Scholarship philosophies and best practices. In addition to its own Job Crafting Exercise and Reflected Best Self Exercise, the Center will now feature Humax’s line of tools, which include:

• The Reciprocity Ring™ – an exercise that enables the principle of pay it forward in a group by helping participants learn the power and practice of reciprocity; find solutions to issues while focusing on contributing to others; and build trust as they learn about and help one another.
• Humax Assessment – a tool that provides an accurate and revealing picture of one’s social network and profile type, as well as diagnostics for identifying strengths and weaknesses. By determining who is in one’s core network, how they are connected, what it says about the strength of one’s social capital and where one needs to build and invest, participants can build the networks they need to accomplish their goals.
• Energy Network Analysis – an online survey that produces maps of energizing and de-energizing connections in an organization, identifying the bright stars who energize others and the black holes that suck energy out of the system. With these energy maps, leaders can locate and replicate the positive practices that create energy, as well as identify and fix the negative practices that drain energy.

Best-selling author of Give & Take, Adam Grant, who is a University of Michigan alumnus that studied with faculty at the Center and currently serves as a professor at Wharton, said, “The Reciprocity Ring is a revolutionary exercise in corporate give and take—a remarkable experience that changes the way we see helping, problem-solving, and social networks.”  Over 20,000 people have benefited from The Reciprocity Ring^TM in companies, organizations and educational institutions around the world.

“Action-based tools are tremendously effective at bringing out the true power of the positive in organizations and fostering environments where people thrive and perform at their best,” said Gretchen M. Spreitzer, faculty co-director at the Center and professor of management and organization at the Ross School of Business. “I have used the Reciprocity Ring in MBA and executive courses and always find it to be an extremely valuable exercise. Even seasoned executives at some of the world’s leading companies experience a ‘wow’ moment when they witness, in real time, the influence and potential of social networking to solve real business problems.”

The tools are now featured through the Center’s website; orders will be fulfilled and processed directly through Humax. To learn more about the tools and their benefits or to purchase the tools, visit https://positiveorgs.bus.umich.edu/tools/.

About the Center for Positive Organizations
The Center for Positive Organizations, based at the Ross School of Business, is a world-class research center that brings transformational research to students and leaders through articles, books, events, tools, teaching and organizational partnerships. Its mission is to inspire and enable leaders to build high-performing organizations that bring out the best in people and serve as a catalyst for the creation and growth of positive organizations.

Since 2002, the Center has been the hub of research on Positive Organizational Scholarship. Our domains of research are Positive Leadership, Positive Meaning and Purpose, Positive Ethics and Virtues, Positive Relationships, and Positive Culture in an organizational setting. In 2010, The Academy of Management presented the Center for Positive Organizations with the Joanne Martin Trailblazer Award for opening up a new field of inquiry in management science. In 2012, The Academy presented the Center with the Research Center Impact Award in recognition of its extensive influence on management practices.

About Humax
Humax Corporation offers social capital assessments, group-level experiential exercises, and online networking software that bring the benefits of network science and positive organizational scholarship to individuals and organizations around the world.  Founded in 1999, Humax has worked with many Fortune 500 companies, universities, and professional association and non-profit organizations to maximize their positive social capital and social networking capabilities.

To learn more about Humax visit www.humaxnetworks.com

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