Management as a Liberal Art

In this episode of the Management as a Liberal Art podcast, Dr. Byron Ramirez speaks with Citlalli Flores Zepeda, an entrepreneur, bilingual brand and strategy advisor, and community leader. Drawing on more than two decades of entrepreneurial experience, Citlalli reflects on the importance of embracing cultural identity, understanding our strengths, discovering our purpose, and using our knowledge and abilities to help others. We also explore her SPARK Contribution Framework and its emphasis on moving from awareness toward empowerment, self-sufficiency, and contribution. Citlalli shares how leadership begins with knowing who we are and becomes most valuable when we use that understanding to create opportunities and strengthen the communities around us.

In this episode of the Management as a Liberal Art podcast, Dr. Byron Ramirez sits with Michelle Avalos, a recent graduate of the California Institute of Advanced Management’s MA in Organizational Leadership program and a professional in the luxury retail industry. Michelle shares her journey and the influence of her family and mentors to her experiences in higher education, professional development, and organizational leadership. The conversation explores mentorship, continuous learning, leadership, purpose, and how we define professional success. At the heart of Michelle’s story is a powerful idea: success is not simply about how far we climb, but also about how many people we can help rise alongside us.

In this episode, the host speaks with Megan Howe, author of “Impact of Growth on Organizational Culture,” about what happens to organizational culture as companies expand, add employees, enter new markets, and bring multiple generations into the workforce. Drawing on interviews with newer and long-tenured employees at Mortenson, Megan explores how growth creates new career opportunities while also increasing the need for intentional culture-building, training, and communication. The conversation also examines how employees with different levels of tenure can experience the same culture in very different ways, and what leaders can do to preserve what matters most while allowing the organization to evolve.

In this episode of Management as a Liberal Art podcast, Dr. Byron Ramirez speaks with Dr. Richard Johnson, whose journey from sociology at UCLA to international consulting and the university classroom, offers a unique perspective on leadership, management, and organizations. Dr. Johnson shares insights into culture, leadership, organizational bureaucracy, and the challenges of managing complex organizations. He combines practical experience with scholarly insight to prepare thoughtful leaders who can positively influence their organizations and communities.

In this episode of the Management as a Liberal Art podcast, Dr. Byron Ramirez speaks with Dr. Kyungchan Park to explore the evolving intersection of artificial intelligence, decision science, and human-centered decision making. Dr. Park discusses the state of AI, the importance of ethical and human-centered technology, and why leaders must balance technical expertise with critical thinking, creativity, and human judgment in an increasingly data-driven world.

In this episode of the Management as a Liberal Art podcast, Dr. Byron Ramirez speaks with Dr. Maria Akopian about her career and journey through music, television, healthcare, marketing, and academia. Dr. Akopian shares insight about creative expression, storytelling, leadership, and managing a diverse career with purpose and resilience.

This episode explores why manager engagement is a critical yet often overlooked driver of organizational success, as the host speaks with Christina Watt about her research on post-COVID practices across leading U.S. companies. Drawing on interviews with Fortune 100 and 500 organizations, they discuss how managers shape the majority of the employee experience, the growing pressures they face in hybrid work environments, and the gaps many organizations have in supporting them effectively. The conversation highlights key findings such as unclear ownership of manager programs, competing demands on managers’ time, and inconsistent development and communication systems, while also offering practical recommendations including structured engagement programs, clearer expectations, and better alignment between leadership behaviors and performance systems.

In this podcast, listeners are introduced to Peter Drucker’s early effort to explain why industrial society broke down and why so many people were drawn to totalitarian movements. It highlights his argument that the appeal of Nazism and Fascism stemmed not just from coercion but from the meaning and status they offered amid widespread social despair. The episode then shows how Drucker used this diagnosis to develop a broader theory of what makes a society function, emphasizing legitimacy, freedom, and the vital role of institutions.

In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Sheryl Thiessen, author of “Change Readiness of Laboratory Leaders in the System-Level Organization,” to explore how trust, communication, and engagement shape the success of transformational change in healthcare systems. Drawing on her action research with British Columbia’s Provincial Laboratory Medicine Services, Dr. Thiessen shares what it takes for leaders to move from skepticism to commitment, why trust is the foundation of organizational agility, and how collective identity can be cultivated during large-scale system reform. Listeners will gain actionable insights on fostering readiness for change, building transparent communication channels, and leading teams through uncertainty with authenticity and purpose.

In this episode of the Management as a Liberal Art Podcast, Dr. Rob Kirkland speaks with Dr. Cynthia Cheng about her groundbreaking research on digital social capital and its growing influence on startup funding success. Drawing from her experience in venture capital and her recent publication in the Transdisciplinary Journal of Management, Dr. Cheng explains how founders can strategically build trust, visibility, and credibility online through structural, relational, and cognitive dimensions of social capital. The discussion covers platform-specific strategies for LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube, the differences between crowdfunding and venture capital approaches, and why consistent, authentic engagement matters more than raw follower counts. Packed with practical insights, this conversation reframes a startup’s digital presence as not just marketing, but an essential part of its funding strategy.