ASOA15019U Sociology of Organizations
BA/MA Elective course
Specialiseringslinje: Organisation, ledelse og arbejde
Course package (MSc Curriculum 2015): Knowledge, organisation and
politics
Organizational sociology is a fascinating subject because it is applied science dealing with ’living people’. Within modern and thus highly differentiated societies most functions essential to the reproduction of society are carried out by organizations. Consequently, most people are involved in one or more organizations.
Theories about organizations are manifold, and considered in a historical perspective they have changed with the development of the industrial society. Consequently, it is important to consider their origins as well as their relationship to other research fields dealing with organizations such as economy and political science.
Within organizational theories, the analysis of the relationship between participants, structure, processes and culture is essential for understanding how organizations are able to achieve their goals. Organizations were by and large considered as closed systems during the first half of the 20th century, either as hierarchical industrial production or as administrative bureaucracy. However, the importance of the environment with regard to the development of the internal as well as external relationships of organizations has since been emphasised. Within the analysis of such open systems, the shift of perspective is mirrored in a wide range of organisational sociological positions today, i.e. institutional, action theoretical (RC), systems theoretical, structuration theoretical, cultural (symbolic interactionism and phenomenology) and feminist approaches.
During the course it will be demonstrated how these theoretical approached may be applied to various degrees when analysing different types of organizations. These organizations comprise industry, services, public administration, interest representation, states, transnational co-ordination (e.g. the EU), but also networks of so-called intermediate organizations between the welfare state and the marked (e.g. voluntarily work). The course will provide an illustration of the discussion of the different theoretical approached by drawing on existing empirical analysis of relevant types of organizations, ranging from kindergartens to states or transnational institutions. During the course the students will be encouraged to use a case when illustrating their discussion of one or more organisational sociological positions. Furthermore, the course is a part of an overall project, aiming at bridging between the university and small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). This might be the case in the private, but also in the voluntary sector and often supported and mediated by public sector organizations.
At the end of the course and having completed the essential readings and activities students should be able to
a) demonstrate knowledge in the field of understanding and analysing organizations according to various theoretical approaches,
b) be skilled, regarding assessments of changes in strategies, structures and processes as regards the achievement of organizational targets,
c) demonstrate competencies, as regards further studies studies in the field of organizational sociology as well as the comparative perspective,
d) demonstrate competencies, enabling a critical classification of organizational sociology as well as its relation to the neighbour disciplines.
e-Compendium: Parts of the textbooks by Richard Scott and Mary Jo Hatch texts will firstly introduce to the overarching concepts, regarding structure, culture, management and change in organisations. Topics such as learning (e.g. Argyris & Schön), gender (e.g. Gherardi and Due Billing), networks (e.g. Walter Powell) and ANT (Porsander), the civil society (Habermann) will be discussed in the context of organisational studies. Finally, various further perspectives on organisations such as postmodernism (e.g. Alversson), systems theory (Luhmann) and radical critique (Türk) are included.
The extent of the course literature will be app. 1400 pages (15 ETCS) / 1600 pages (20 ETCS - gl. studieordning).
Students may expect to receive advice during the course, regarding the making of their individual portfolio assignment.
During the semester, students must hand in three working papers, e.g.
1. The question of investigation within the framework of organizational studies, including methodological and theoretical considerations (app. 3 pages).
2. The analysis and discussion of the question of investigation (app. 9 pages).
3. The conclusion and further perspectives (app. 3 pages).
Subsequently, the students will receive feedback after each working paper with the aim of improving their final individual portfolio assignment for the exam. The students will also be encouraged to present their topics and ideas in group discussions for the other students.
WORKLOAD
The number of lecture hours are the same for both 15 and 20 ECTS courses.
15 ECTS:
Lectures: 56
Course preparation: 150
Exercises: 20
Project work: 187
Total: 413
20 ECTS:
Lectures: 56
Course preparation: 187,50
Exercises: 20
Project work: 236,50
Exam Preparation: 50
Total: 550
- Category
- Hours
- Course Preparation
- 150
- Exercises
- 20
- Lectures
- 56
- Project work
- 187
- Total
- 413
Registration deadline for courses is June 1 for Autumn semester
and November 1 for Spring semester. Registration deadline for
Summer school is June 1.
When registered you will be signed up for exam. International
exchange students must sign up by filling in an application
form:
course registration. Meritstuderende:
klik
her
- Credit
- 15 ECTS
- Type of assessment
- PortfolioIndividual or group. A portfolio assignment is defined as a series of short assignments during the course that address one or more set questions and feedback is offered during the course. All of the assignments are submitted together for assessment at the end of the course. Further details for this exam form can be found in the Curriculum and in the General Guide to Examinations at KUnet.
- Exam registration requirements
Sociology students must be enrolled under MSc Curriculum 2015 to take this exam.
- Marking scale
- 7-point grading scale
- Censorship form
- No external censorship
Internal examiners
- Exam period
Submission dates and time will be available at KUnet, www.kunet.dk. Exchange students and danish full degree guest students please see the homepage of Sociology; http://www.soc.ku.dk/english/education/exams/ and http://www.soc.ku.dk/uddannelser/meritstuderende/eksamen/
Criteria for exam assesment
See learning outcome
- Credit
- 20 ECTS
- Type of assessment
- Written examinationIndividual/group. A written take-home essay is defined as an assignment that addresses one or more questions. The exam is based on the course syllabus, i.e. the literature set by the teacher. Further details for this exam form can be found in the Curriculum and in the General Guide to Examinations at KUnet.
- Exam registration requirements
Sociology students must be enrolled under MSc Curriculum 2005 or BSc Curriculum to take this exam.
- Marking scale
- 7-point grading scale
- Censorship form
- No external censorship
Internal examiners
- Exam period
Submission dates and time will be available at KUnet, www.kunet.dk. Exchange students and danish full degree guest students please see the homepage of Sociology; http://www.soc.ku.dk/english/education/exams/ and http://www.soc.ku.dk/uddannelser/meritstuderende/eksamen/
Criteria for exam assesment
See learning outcome
Course information
- Language
- English
- Course code
- ASOA15019U
- Credit
- See exam description
- Level
- BachelorFull Degree Master,Full Degree Master choice
- Duration
- 1 semester
- Placement
- Autumn
- Schedule
- See timetable
- Continuing and further education
- Price
- Study board
- Department of Sociology, Study Council
Contracting department
- Department of Sociology
Course responsibles
- Helge Albrechtsen (3-6f6873477a766a35727c356b72)
Lecturers
Helge Albrechtsen, E-mail: hal@soc.ku.dk