Advanced Topics in Organisation Science

Introduction

This course provides students with an advanced understanding of organizations as the primary engines of modern society. Organizations are the essential tool we use to produce goods, innovate, and resolve complex tasks; however, their efficiency is not merely a matter of profit, but a fundamental ethical concern. Drawing on the historical foundations of Adam Smith (1776) and Frederick W. Taylor (1911), who viewed organizing as the primary tool for efficient utilization of resources, creating wealth, prosperity, and a welfare society, organization science is a vital—yet often undervalued—resource for the sustainable management of scarce resources.

The first part of the course links organization theory to the field of strategy and strategic adaptation. More specifically, the first part analyzes the environment and how organizations can strategically adapt to external demands. In the second part of the course, we use Scott and David's book, "Organizations and Organizing: Rational, Natural and Open System Perspectives”, to review the field of organization theory. This course also provides students with a background to understand how to change organizational structures to respond to increasing environmental complexity in both the private and public sectors. The last part of the course is dedicated to understanding organizing in the face of the unexpected and how organizations utilize teams to flexibly adapt. Based on classic and recent scientific articles, we discuss how organizations can handle the unexpected. The course provides advanced knowledge into how organizations deal with deviations from the expected; specifically, the last part of the course is concerned with how deviations from expectations and plans can be handled efficiently. We discuss classic and new theories of coordination within organizations and teams to understand how organizations can better deal with "wicked" environments.

Course content

1.  Introduction, competitive strategy and competitive advantage
2. Organizational learning and strategic change
3. Strategy as practice and process; Organizational inertia
4. Organizations as rational, natural & open systems
5. Organizations as Rational systems
6. Organizations as Natural systems
7. Organizations as Open Systems & Combining Perspectives
8. Technology & Structure: Coordination & Routines
9. Goals, Power & Control
10. Alternative coordination mechanisms in organizations & teams. Mental models in teams
11. Routines as a source of flexibility and Change: Improvisation and consequences for communication demands
12. Normal accidents & High-reliability Organizations

Disclaimer

This is an excerpt from the complete course description for the course. If you are an active student at BI, you can find the complete course descriptions with information on eg. learning goals, learning process, curriculum and exam at portal.bi.no. We reserve the right to make changes to this description.