Why do (large) organizations behave as they do? The question is simple but thought provoking. The course Organization Theory is aimed at giving students the possibility to discuss alternative answers to this question. It will help students to increase their abilities to understand complex organized behavior. It offers a series of different theoretical lenses useful for explaining organizations from multiple perspectives.

We will approach the different perspectives on organizations through reading papers published by the most distinguished organization scholars. By discussing and comparing underlying assumptions and theoretical positions of texts of economic theories of the firm, functional and structuralist (modern) organization theories, and by expanding our review to interpretive as well as and postmodern perspectives, we develop a deeper understanding of different schools of thought.

Students will read the scholarly papers before each session, write thought-papers to selected papers and share their thoughts with colleagues in in-class discussions.

The sessions of Organization Theory in the Summer term 2018 will take place in the evening (usually Thursday, 18-20:00 h, sometimes sessions start earlier; please check dates in TISS).

Attendance in course discussion (1st March, 18:00h, Theres 2) mandatory!