Perspectives on Organizations

This module is suspended for 2011 to 2012

Convenor: Dr Chahrazad Abdallah
Assessment: 2-hour Examination: 75%, Individual Essay: 25%

Aims

The purpose of this course is to increase students’ understanding of the complexities of organizations and to find relevant ways of meeting the challenges they present. This module aims to help students get an in-depth understanding of organizations through the study of central theoretical perspectives. The course is mainly built around the discipline of Organizational Theory but also draws from elements of Organizational Behaviour. Organizational Theory focuses on the key contextual variables that management needs to keep in mind. These include congruency with the external environment; and appropriate culture, technology, design and social and power structures. Elements of Organizational Behaviour which will be included in this course draw on micro-level factors like internal processes, organizational culture or conflict. The course covers a broad range of theories and is constructed around three main perspectives: modern, symbolic/interpretive, and post-modern. These three different perspectives are used to get a better understanding of the complexity of organizational contexts.

The aim of this module is to capture the multidimensional, life-like view of what goes on in organizations. The module is theory-driven but it also relies on empirical illustrations drawn from the academic and business literature to give students a broader understanding of the applications of the various theoretical lenses in different contexts. A particular emphasis is put on illustrative cases from the creative industries.

Learning objectives

• To provide a multi-dimensional perspective of the contextual variables faced in the management of organizational life.
• To understand the core concepts that organizational theorists use to explain and theorise organisations.
• To show how these ideas can serve as practical tools for analysis and management of successful organizational situations.

By the end of this module, students will understand:

• Major theoretical approaches to organization theory;
• Central issues in the field of organization theory
• The interrelatedness of theories, the usefulness of applying multiple lenses to understand organisational phenomena and the relevance of these theories to the practice of management in an increasingly challenging environment.

Recommended readings

• Hatch, M J with A. Cuncliffe (2006). Organization Theory, Modern, Symbolic, and Postmodern perspectives. (2nd edition). Oxford University Press.
• Cuncliffe, A. L. (2008). Organization Theory. Sage Course Companions. London: Sage.
• Grey, C. (2005). A very short, fairly interesting and reasonably cheap book about studying organisations. London: Sage.
• Morgan, G. (1997). Images of the organisation. London: Sage.