Organizational Theory
Objectives
In a paper published in Administrative Science Quarterly in 2016 Karl Weick identified what he called six longstanding paradigms in organization theory (Weick, K.E. (2016). 60th anniversary essay: Constrained comprehending: The experience of organizational inquiry. Administrative Science Quarterly, 61(3), 333-346). In this course we will explore these six paradigms plus one advanced by Weick himself (sense making) as well as some foundational works on the theory of organizations. The core paradigms in organization theory are contingency theory, transaction costs, resource dependence, agency theory, new institutional theory, and population ecology. The course aims to offer an overview of the rich and textured conceptual landscape of the theory of organizations by exploring some of the discipline's core ideas.
General characterization
Code
6201
Credits
7
Responsible teacher
TBA
Hours
Weekly - Available soon
Total - Available soon
Teaching language
English
Prerequisites
n/a
Bibliography
Franz Kafka's novel The Trial (multiple editions available in many languages)
Gareth Morgan (1980). Images of organization. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Teaching method
Students will read, reflect, and discuss some foundational texts in organization theory. Pedagogically, this course is interactive and students will play a key role in the course of discussions.
Evaluation method
Papers debate:
25%
Course participation:
25%
Final essay: a critical analyse of the course’ bibliography: 50%
Subject matter
The syllabus covers the main paradigms in organization
theory. Each class is dedicated to a specific paradigm. At the end of the
course, students are expected to have acquired a conceptual map of organization
theory as a diverse, multiparadigmatic field.
1 Studying the behaviour of organizations: What is OT?
Overview of organization theory. Organizations and change. The process
perspective of organizations.
2 The pioneers: Appreciating the pioneers.
3 Bureaucracy: Why was bureaucracy so successful.
Bureaucracy as moral project. The dysfunction of bureaucracy. State
bureaucracies, state reform and the vicious circles of organizing. Was Kafka an
organizational theorist?
4 Contingency theory: Introduction to contingency theory:
the origins and implications of contingency thinking across organization theory
and organization behaviour. Recent extensions and challenges to contingency theory.
5 Transaction cost theory: Introduction to transaction cost
theory. Why do organizations exist? New technologies, ho/acracies and the end
of hierarchies and organizations?
6 Resource dependence: The meaning of resource dependence.
The management of resource dependence. Power and resource dependence.
7 Agency theory: Overview of agency theory. Developments in
agency theory. From agents and principals to the logic of stakeholders
8 Population ecology: An evolutionary view of organizations:
Darwin goes to organization theory? Why are organizations so diverse? Engines
of change. Inertia and its consequences.
9 Institutional theory: An overview of institutionalism, old
and new. Why are organizations so similar? The concept of isomorphism.
Institutional logics and organizational hybrids.
10 Culture: Organizations as interpretation systems.
Organizations as cultures. Sociomateriality. Culture, power, and control.
11 Sensemaking: Making sense of/in a fluid world. Beyond
cognition: new developments in sense making research.
12 New directions in organization theory: This session celebrates new directions in organization theory: process (organizations as (n)ever changing), purpose (what is OT for), and paradox (OT as a field of contradiction).