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Complex Organizations

Page history last edited by David Touve 16 years, 4 months ago

Complex Organizations

 

Submitted by: Brayden King

 

Recommended texts:

Elsbach, Kimberly.  2006.  Organizational Perception Management  Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Handel, Michael J.  2003.  The Sociology of Organizations:  Classic, Contemporary, and Critical Readings  Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Khurana, Rakesh.  2002.  Searching for a Corporate Savior: The Irrational Quest for Charismatic CEOs.  Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

 

Week 1:  Organizational society

January 9:    Introduction to class – what is organizational theory?

Jan 11:        Organizations in society

Reading:    Bovens, Mark.  1998.  Pp. 9-21 in The Quest for Responsibility  Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Week 2:  Organizations as rational systems, part I

Jan 16:        Bureaucracy

Reading:    Weber, Max.  1968.  Pp. 46-77 in On Charisma and Institution Building, edited by S.N. Eisenstandt.  Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

Jan 18:        Bureaucracy, cont.

Reading:    Perrow, Charles.  1986.  ch. 1 in Complex Organizations: A Critical Essay  New York: Random House.

Memo 1 assigned

Week 3:  Organizations as rational systems, part II

Jan 23:        Taylorism

        Reading:      Taylor, ch. 2 in Handel

                and

Braverman, ch. 3 in Handel

        Memo 1 due   

Jan 25:        Routinization of work

Reading:      Leidner, Robin.  1993.  Pp. 24-85 in Fast Food, Fast Talk, Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

       

Week 4:  Organizations as natural systems, part I

Jan 30:        The human relations movement

        Reading:     Bramel and Friend, ch. 8 in Handel

McGregor, ch. 9 in Handel

February 1:    Developing worker commitment

        Reading:    Walton, ch. 10 in Handel

Week 5:  Organizations as natural systems, part II

Feb 6:        Why do workers work so hard?

        Reading:    Burawoy, ch. 15 in Handel

Feb 8:        Labor movements and workplace insurgency

Reading:    Knoke, David.  2001.  Changing Organizations Boulder, CO:  Westview Press, pp. 287-303.

Week 6:  Managing uncertainty

Feb 13:    Managerial politics   

Reading:    Jackall, ch. 14 in Handel

Feb 15:        Innovation

        Reading:      Burns and Stalker, ch. 4 in Handel

                and

Wood, Robert Chapman and Gary Hamel.  2002.  “The World Bank’s Innovation Market.” Harvard Business Review.  November: 104-112.

        Memo 2 assigned

Week 7:  Interorganizational networks

Feb 20:        No class – Monday schedule due to holiday

Feb 22:        Network forms of organization

        Reading:    Powell, ch. 25 in Handel

                and

Uzzi, Brian.  1997.  “Social Structure and Competition in Interfirm Networks: The Paradox of Embeddedness.”  Administrative Science Quarterly  42: 35-67.

        Memo 2 due

Week 8:  Mid-term exam

Feb 27:        Mid-term review

March 1:    Mid-Term Exam       

 

Week 9: Organizations as open systems, part I

March 6:    Resource dependence theory

        Reading:     Pfeffer and Salancik, ch. 18 in Handel

March 8:    Market positioning and competitive advantage

Reading:    Saloner, Garth, Andrea Shepard, and Joel Podolny.  2001.  “Competitive Advantage.” Ch. 3 in Strategic Management. John Wiley & Sons: New York.

Week 10: Charismatic CEOs and legitimacy

March 13:    Neo-institutional theory

        Reading:    DiMaggio and Powell, ch. 19 in Handel

March 15:    CEO labor markets

        Reading:    Khurana, pp. 1-117

Week 11: Legitimacy and identity

March 20:    Irrational pursuit of legitimacy

        Reading:    Khurana, pp. 118-220

March 22:    Identity, image, and reputation

Reading:    Whetten, David and Alison Mackey. 2002. “A Social Actor Conception of Organizational Identity and its implications for the study of organizational reputation.” Business and Society  44: 393-414.

Week 12: Organizational perception management, part I

March 27:    Crisis events

        Reading:    Elsbach, pp. 1-80

        Case study outline due

March 29:    Evolving and anticipated controversies

        Reading:    Elsbach, pp. 81-132

Week 13: Organizational perception management, part II

April 3:        Acclaim events

        Reading:    Elsbach, pp. 133-167

April 5:        Enron – a case study of image management gone awry

Memo 3 assigned

Week 14: Structural inertia and population niches

April 10:    Inertia and change

Reading:    Hannan, Michael T. and John Freeman. 1984. “Structural Inertia and Organizational Change.” American Sociological Review  49: 149-164.

Memo 3 due

April 12:    Density dependence - organizational ecology

        Reading:    Carroll and Hannan, ch. 20 in Handel

Week 15:  Final review

April 17:    Final exam review

        Case study due

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