Department of Economic, Management and Quantitative Methods Phone: 0250321148 maddalena.sorrentino@unimi.it Alessandro Zardini University of Verona Department of Business Administration Phone: 0458028565 The objective of this course is to introduce students to fundamental questions and theoretical approaches in the study of organizations, and to the fundamental issues about organizational design. At the beginning a particular attention will be placed to the introduction of qualitative and quantitative research approach. The readings are organized historically and thematically to capture the intellectual trajectories of organization theory and various shifts in emphasis: from workers to managers, from organizational processes to outputs, from studies of single organizations in their environments to studies of collective action in organizational populations and fields. Students are expected to complete all the readings prior to class. Our primary goal is to cover the major theoretical approaches to organizations, and we will examine recent advances in theory and research that extend these approaches in interesting ways. During the course, students will develop a solid understanding of some of the major economic perspectives guiding the study of organizations and they will examine how different theoretical perspectives are tested. The course does not presume specialized background in organization theory. This course is designed to develop your skills in discussing and critiquing both arguments and evidence. Students not only need to understand the arguments, but also need to be able to talk about them and extend readings will typically include some them. Each lesson’s “classics” defining the particular perspective, some more recent theoretical and/or empirical developments of the perspectives, and either implicit or explicit critiques of the basic perspective.
Department of Economic, Management and Quantitative Methods Phone: 0250321148 maddalena.sorrentino@unimi.it Alessandro Zardini University of Verona Department of Business Administration Phone: 0458028565 The objective of this course is to introduce students to fundamental questions and theoretical approaches in the study of organizations, and to the fundamental issues about organizational design. At the beginning a particular attention will be placed to the introduction of qualitative and quantitative research approach. The readings are organized historically and thematically to capture the intellectual trajectories of organization theory and various shifts in emphasis: from workers to managers, from organizational processes to outputs, from studies of single organizations in their environments to studies of collective action in organizational populations and fields. Students are expected to complete all the readings prior to class. Our primary goal is to cover the major theoretical approaches to organizations, and we will examine recent advances in theory and research that extend these approaches in interesting ways. During the course, students will develop a solid understanding of some of the major economic perspectives guiding the study of organizations and they will examine how different theoretical perspectives are tested. The course does not presume specialized background in organization theory. This course is designed to develop your skills in discussing and critiquing both arguments and evidence. Students not only need to understand the arguments, but also need to be able to talk about them and extend them. Each lesson’s readings will typically include some “classics” defining the particular perspective, some more recent theoretical and/or empirical developments of the perspectives, and either implicit or explicit critiques of the basic perspective.