Jerry I. Porras : An Oral History
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- Jerry I. Porras, the Lane Professor of Organizational Behavior and Change, Emeritus, speaks about his upbringing in El Paso, including his family’s history and small business endeavors, incidents of racism toward and segregation of Mexican Americans, and his undergraduate years at the University of Texas, El Paso, where he studied electrical engineering. Porras describes his service in the Army with Explosive Ordnance Disposal, his work at Lockheed Martin and General Electric, his graduate training in business and organization development, and the use of T-Groups and team building interventions in his teaching and research. Turning to his time on the Stanford Graduate School of Business faculty, Porras describes the culture of the school in the 1970s and teaching the popular Interpersonal Dynamics course. He describes his research for the books Stream Analysis and Built to Last (with Jim Collins), as well as his efforts to cultivate the growth of Latino-owned businesses through the Latino Business Action Network and the Stanford Latino Entrepreneurship Initiative.
Description
| Type of resource | moving image, sound recording-nonmusical, text |
|---|---|
| Extent | 4 video files; 4 audio files; 1 text file |
| Place | Stanford (Calif.) |
| Publisher | Stanford Historical Society |
| Date created | January 12, 2021 - 2021-01-19 |
| Language | English |
| Digital origin | born digital |
Creators/Contributors
| Interviewee | Porras, Jerry I. | |
|---|---|---|
| Creator | Porras, Jerry I. | |
| Interviewer | Marine-Street, Natalie J. | |
| Publisher | Stanford Historical Society |
Subjects
| Subject | Porras, Jerry I. |
|---|---|
| Subject | Stanford University. Graduate School of Business |
| Subject | Stanford Latino Entrepreneurship Initiative |
| Subject | Organizational behavior |
| Genre | Interview |
Bibliographic information
| Biographical Profile | Jerry I. Porras is the Lane Professor of Organizational Behavior, Emeritus, since 2001. Professor Porras joined the Stanford faculty in 1972. Professor Porras served as a Business School Trust Faculty Fellow as well as a Robert M. and Anne T. Bass Faculty Fellow. He was the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs at the Graduate School of Business from 1991-1994. He also served as the Stanford’s faculty athletics representative to the Pacific-10 Conference and the National Collegiate Athletic Association from 1988 until his retirement. Porras currently serves as the Co-coordinator of the Stanford Latino Entrepreneurship Initiative. He has consulted with a variety of companies worldwide and spoken at over 100 senior management conferences. Among the honors he has received are the Brilliante Award from the National Society of Hispanic MBAs, the Silver Apple Award from the Stanford Business School Alumni Association, and the Kanter Medal from the Pacific Graduate School of Psychology. Professor Porras is the author of Stream Analysis: A Powerful Way to Diagnose and Manage Organizational Change (Addison-Wesley, 1987); co-developer of the Stream Analysis Software Package (1999); and coauthor of Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies (Harper Business, 1994) and “Success Built to Last: Creating a Life that Matters Pearson, 2006). He has served on several editorial boards including the Journal of Organizational Change Management, Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, Academy of Management Journal, and Academy of Management Review. Professor Porras received his BSEE from Texas Western College in 1960, his MBA from Cornell University in 1968, and his PhD from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1974. He worked at General Electric Co., 1964–66; Lockheed Missiles and Space Corp., 1963–64 and in the U.S. Army, 1960–63. |
|---|---|
| Summary Part 1 | [00:00:00-00:34:56] Growing up in El Paso, Texas • Family prioritizing speaking English over Spanish • Memories of the barrio, including cattle drives in his neighborhood • Paternal grandfather Jacinto and his entrepreneurial efforts • Mother’s family history • Father’s career with the Southern Pacific Railroad; health and financial struggles • Memories of his father’s death • Values that governed how his family practiced business [00:34:56-01:10:01] Punishments for speaking Spanish at school • El Paso school demographics • Experience at the Alamo and understanding systemic racism in education • Alta Vista School; story of being denied position as student patrol captain due to ethnicity • Racist attitudes of many teachers in high school • Family’s expectations regarding college; University of Texas, El Paso • ROTC during college • Parents’ involvement with the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) • Segregation in El Paso, including refusal of some college fraternities to admit Mexican Americans [01:10:01-01:35:52] Experience in the Army after college and joining the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) • Lessons in organization and management from the Army • Story of disarming a suspected live grenade • Memories of being based in the Presidio [01:35:52-02:11:07] The power of networking and how to get things done in the military • Early signs of American involvement in Vietnam War • Decision to leave the military; job at Lockheed Martin in the Bay Area • Working at General Electric in Phoenix, Arizona • Decision to attend Cornell University for MBA |
| Summary Part 2 | [00:00:00-00:32:20] Working on cold rolling mills for General Electric • General Electric’s corporate culture • Story of how his name became Jerry in order to fit in at school • Adjustment to life at Cornell with his wife and young son • Meeting Larry and Kathleen Liebenow at Cornell’s MBA orientation • MBA curriculum and interest in organizational behavior [00:32:20-01:01:22] Business school course involving T-Groups to focus on interpersonal relations • Description of T-Group process; establishing norms and role of facilitator • Decision to pursue PhD at UCLA • West Coast encounter groups; Bob Tannenbaum and team building [01:01:22-01:35:24] Influence of Bill McKelvey • Goal of making companies healthier from both psychological and financial perspectives • Nascent concept of team building in 1960s • Concept of self-actualization in Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs • Influence of Warren Bennis, Ed Shein, and Chris Argyris • Differences in how organizational behavior was studied in East and West Coast institutions • Social context of 1968-1972; prioritizing PhD research • Dissertation research in Argentina; measuring self-actualization as a trailing variable after a team building intervention [01:35:24-02:03:42] Challenges of speaking Argentinian Spanish • Story about how he was perceived in Argentina • Reflections on business culture in Argentina • Recruitment to Stanford Graduate School of Business in 1972; diverse new faculty cohort |
| Summary Part 3 | [00:00:00-00:31:19] Graduate School of Business in the early 1970s; high bar for assistant professors • Changes in the faculty and in GSB culture over time • Treatment of early women faculty members • Lack of support for assistant professors; mentorship from Alexander Robichek [00:31:19-01:02:03] Tenure process • Early experience teaching in Sloan Program • Evolution of Interpersonal Dynamics course • Story of the trust fall exercise and a broken wrist • Teaching organization development and change [01:02:03-01:33:47] Latino students at the GSB • Hispanic Business Students Association • Research on the problem continuum in organizations and getting at core problems with Joan Harkness; stream analysis method [01:33:47-02:15:23] Software developed for Stream Analysis research • Researching and writing Built to Last with Jim Collins • Purpose, core values, and BHAGs |
| Summary Part 4 | [00:00:00-00:33:42] Legacy of Built to Last and audio book • Latino Business Action Network and the Stanford Latino Entrepreneurship Initiative • How the difficulty of convincing deans to hire Latino faculty members influenced his approach with LBAN and SLIE • Potential impact of an equality gap in the business world on the economy [00:33:42-01:00:27] Helping Latinos create big businesses • Surveying Latino businesses and creating a database with Doug Rivers; findings • Definition of a Latino-owned business • Creating a Latino business ecosystem [01:00:27-01:27:22] Recruiting mentors • Favorite part about SLEI • SLEI tuition • Reflections on working on Latino issues in a business school • Board service, including State Farm • Consulting experience |
| Transcript |
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| Finding Aid | |
| Location | https://purl.stanford.edu/pb468ss4573 |
| Location | SC0932 |
| Repository | Stanford University. Libraries. Department of Special Collections and University Archives |
Access conditions
- Use and reproduction
- The materials are open for research use and may be used freely for non-commercial purposes with an attribution. For commercial permission requests, please contact the Stanford University Archives (universityarchives@stanford.edu).
- Copyright
- Copyright © The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University. All rights reserved.
Collection
Stanford Historical Society Oral History Program interviews, 1999-2022
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