02644 - Theory of Organisation

Learning outcomes

The course aims at presenting the basic foundations of the organizational theory and the main theoretical approaches for the study of organizations. At the end of the course, the student: - knows the basic theoretical and analytical tools for studying and understanding organizational phenomena - knows how to analyze the main organizations and the economic and political-institutional contexts in which they operate.

Course contents

The course is organized in lectures and seminars, as detailed in the following program. Lectures (28 hours in remote on MS TEAMS) aim to introduce students to the core tenets of the discipline. Seminars aim to provide occasions for in-depth discussions of class materials and exercises. The division into lessons and seminars is specified in the program that follows. For the seminar section, students will be divided into X groups according to their preferences and according to rules concerning the current pandemic emergency: one/two group(s) will do the seminar in classroom (16 hours) and two groups will do the seminar remotely on MS TEAMS (16 hours). Therefore, a total of 44 classroom hours are scheduled for each student. Students are required to carefully read the assigned material before the session and - in the case of seminars - active participation through presentations of existing scholarship and case studies will also be expected. Regardless of the health-related conditions and the specific organization of the course, students will be able to follow the lessons of the entire course remotely on MS TEAMS.

The first part focuses on the main approaches of the industrial sociology and classical organization theory, such as Taylor and the Scientific Management, Mayo and the Human Relation School and the contribution of Barnard on cooperation, efficiency and efficacy. Moreover, this part deals with the theories of personality development, the Toyota model, Weber and the ideal-type of bureaucracy and its critics, such as Gouldner and Merton.

The second part deals with some important issues related to complex organizations planning and management: Crozier and its idea of power and the strategy of organizational actors; the linkage between organization and its environment; the organizational structures, the organizational culture and finally the transaction cost economy.

Readings/Bibliography

MANDATORY READINGS - Letture obbligatorie

Main text-book :

Bonazzi, G. (2008), Storia del pensiero organizzativo, Milano Franco Angeli.

Chapters: Introduzione + Capitoli 1 (L'OSL ovvero il taylorismo), 2 (Dopo Taylor. Nascita e fortuna delle Relazioni Umane), 3 (Chester Barnard), 7 (Nel post-fordismo: specializzazione flessibile, produzione snella e fabbrica modulare), 8 (Max Weber: la burocrazia come apparato del potere legale), 9 (Dopo Weber. Le conseguenze inattese della burocrazia nell'analisi di R. Merton), 10 (Alvin Gouldner), 11 (Philip Selznick), 12 (Michel Crozier); 17 (Teorie della contingenza e controllo dell'incertezza); 18 (Cultura, significato e risorse).

 

Other mandatory readings (paper copy available at Copisteria Broccaindosso OR digital version available on Virtuale.unibo.it ):

1. Ferrante, M e Zan, S. (1994), Che cos'è un'organizzazione? in Il fenomeno organizzativo, Roma, Carocci. Capitolo primo.

2. Catino, M. (2012), Le strutture e le configurazioni organizzative, in Capire le organizzazioni, Bologna, Il Mulino. Capitolo due.

Letture obbligatorie 2° modulo

1.Il prato infinito, in I. Calvino, Palomar, Torino, Einaudi, 1983.

2. Il caso McDonalds [materiali preparati dalla docente]

3. Il caso della linea Maginot [testo non pubblicato]

4. Il caso NUMMI - Masino G. (2005), Le "nuove" forme di organizzazione del lavoro: il Caso Nummi in Le imprese oltre il fordismo, Retorica, illusioni, realtà, Roma, Carocci.

5. Il caso AGESCI [testo non pubblicato]

6. Esercizi sulle strutture organizzative [materiali preparati dalla docente]

7. Il caso MULTICOM, in G. Morgan, Images: le metafore dell'organizzazione, Milano, Franco Angeli, 1990.

8. Il caso Costa Concordia: alcune riflessioni su un incidente (Catino 2012) + Catino (2012), Capitolo 9, Il lato oscuro delle organizzazioni, in Capire le organizzazioni, Il Mulino, Bologna.

 

 

Teaching methods

Each thematic unit will be summed up and regularly made available on the Alma digital library web site . Students will thus be able to download class material every week.

Class attendance is strongly recommended

Assessment methods

For the students attending classes with regularity:

One written exam at the end of the first part (mid of the course) and another one at the end of the course. The two exams are written. Each one consists of five open-ended questions and it last max 1h15.

For the students NOT attending classes:

One written exam on all the readings listed above.

If needed, further information will be provided by professor. 

Teaching tools

- Power point presentations.

- Papers presentation and discussion.

- Other tools such as electronic databases, newspaper articles etc.

Office hours

See the website of Cristina Dallara

See the website of Luca Verzelloni