Studies in Organizational Change (306-0-20)
Instructors
James P Spillane
Meeting Info
Annenberg Hall 303: Thurs 9:30AM - 12:20PM
Overview of class
Organizations are ubiquitous. For most of us, our initial encounter with the world is in an organization - a hospital, and then most of us spend the bulk of our childhood and adolescences in another organization - a family. We spend much of our childhood and adolescence also attending yet another organization - the school. Most Americans still work in an organization as distinct from being self-employed. Organizations are a fixture in our lives at an early age and continue to play a central role across the lifespan. The ubiquity of organizations is such that we often take them for granted, rarely stopping to consider how they influence our lives.
Organizational change has garnered considerable attention from academics, private consultants and policy-makers. This interest cuts across organizational sectors — for-profit, non-profit, and government organizations. This class focuses on organizational change.
Studies in Organizational Change is an advanced course in the Learning & Organizational Change major designed to introduce key constructs and ideas about change in organizations. The class is organized as follows: We will begin with a discussion of the notion of change in general and organizational change in particular. We will identify different levels of analysis that scholars who study organizational change focus on. We will then examine different levers or resources for organizational change including - leadership, organizational routines, human capital, social capital, technology, culture, identity. Throughout the class, students will be expected to constantly apply the constructs and ideas to particular cases of organizational change.
Learning Objectives
- Read, critically analyze, and discuss research on organizational change.
- Apply ideas from research to cases of organizational change, including your own life and in organizations of interest.
- Build skills to study, understand, and enact organizational change.
- Collaborate and share your experiences, perspectives and expertise with classmates.
Teaching Method
Seminar/Lecture