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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