SOCIOLOGY 1315
Spring 2016
MACRO-ORGANIZATIONAL THEORY:
Organizations in Social Context
T/Th 10:30am - 11:50am
Salomon Center 001
Instructor
Professor Mark C. Suchman
Office: 208 Maxcy Hall
Office Hours: Th 1:30pm - 3:30pm; or by appointment
Contact:
Teaching Assistants
Elizabeth (Liz) Brennan Aisalkyn Botoeva Zachary (Zack) Wilmot
Office: 008 Maxcy Hall Office: 408 Maxcy Hall Office: 008 Maxcy Hall
Hours: T 1:30pm -3:30pm Hours: T 12:00pm - 2:00pm Hours: Th 1:00pm - 3:00pm
Contact: Contact: Contact:
Course Description
The field of Macro-Organizational Theory, or “OT” for short, focuses on the large-scale social
dynamics of organizational life. It takes the organization in total as the primary unit of analysis
and analyzes both how organizations are composed “bottom up” from various sometimes
competing, sometimes synergistic subunits, and also how organizations are conditioned “outside
in” by various sometimes constraining, sometimes empowering external forces.1
Examining organizations at this macro-sociological level, Sociology 1315 explores questions
about organizational decision-making processes, about coordination and control of
organizational subunits, and about boundaries and relations among organizations and between
organizations and the surrounding socio-political environment. Lectures and discussions will
cover a wide range of perspectives and draw examples from a wide range of organizational
settings -- corporations, non-profits, political parties, public agencies, the military, professions,
and voluntary associations.
1
This contrasts with micro-level approaches, such as those covered in Sociology 1311, which treat the organization
as context and focus primarily on the individual- and workgroup-level social-psychological dynamics that
organizations comprise and engender.
,Sociology 1315 Spring 2016
The goal is to survey the many different ways in which sociologists think about and study
organizational life. From various perspectives, we will ask and answer such Big Questions as:
What assumptions and metaphors do we deploy (either consciously or unconsciously) in
thinking about organizations? Are organizations like engineered machines? Like living
organisms? Like political coalitions? Like cultural rituals? What might each of these
metaphors accentuate, and what might each hide?
How do organizations arrive at “intelligent” decisions? How do they gather and process
information, predict future events, learn from experience, adjudicate disagreements, and
make sense of the unexpected?
How do organizations maintain order among their various subunits, levels and factions?
How do they integrate and coordinate multiple tasks, and how do they control and
suppress (or celebrate and exploit) dissent?
How do organizations draw, maintain and manage the boundaries between different
activities, and between the organization and the environment? What are the
consequences of inclusion and exclusion, self-sourcing and out-sourcing, bonding and
bridging, autonomy and embeddedness?
How are organizations shaped by the environments in which they operate? Which
aspects of the external world matter most for organizations’ fates? Can organizations
strategically select and construct environments in which they can thrive, or are
organizations at the mercy of forces beyond their control?
Structurally, the course builds on four major metaphors in organizational theory: the organization
as machine, the organization as organism, the organization as politics, and the organization as
culture. After briefly exploring each of these metaphors in the abstract, we will proceed to
examine core “problematics” at three distinct levels of analysis: organizational decision-making,
organizational structure, and the inter-organizational environment. Throughout, we will also
seek contrasts and commonalities both across metaphors and across levels.
Through theoretical readings, integrative lectures, open-ended discussions and real-world case
studies, you will develop a new set of lenses for seeing the “lines of force” that move the various
organizations in which we inevitably live out our lives. And, with luck and attention, you will
begin to cultivate your own style of harnessing and riding those lines of force, mindfully,
effectively and responsibly.
Note: Although this course is intentionally broad, it is not all-inclusive. We will occasionally
discuss managerial dilemmas, but this is not primarily a course in business administration. In
addition, we will give only passing consideration to traditional micro-economics and industrial
psychology. If you are interested in these topics, you may find Sociology 1315 to be a useful and
thought-provoking counterpoint, but you are unlikely to find it to be redundant -- or even entirely
consonant -- with other courses in your curriculum.
2
, Sociology 1315 Spring 2016
Course Objectives
Sociology 1315 provides a foundation of theoretical, empirical and experiential knowledge about
the structures, processes and effects of formal organizations in modern society – and about the
ways in which modern society permeates, constructs and constrains the organizations that arise
within it. Specific learning objectives include:
Describe current theoretical and empirical scholarship in the OT field.
Identify how OT concepts and findings apply to various types of public- and private-
sector organizations.
Analyze organizational structures and processes from multiple perspectives, comparing
and contrasting different models of organizational and environmental phenomena.
Recognize your own preferred perspectives, and understand how they might color your
interpretations of organizational events and experiences.
Strengthen your ability to diagnose and respond creatively to organizational challenges.
Strengthen your ability to build and maintain effective and sustainable organizational
enterprises and healthy and resilient organizational environments.
Course Format
Units: Thematically, Sociology 1315 is organized into four units. The first unit introduces the
core metaphors and debates of the field. The subsequent three units each examine a key
“problematic” in the field, at progressively more macro-sociological levels of analysis:
Decision-making and collective intelligence
Intra-organizational coordination and control
Inter-organizational boundaries and environments.
We will explore each of these problematics through a series of interrelated readings, lectures, and
discussions, examining the different theoretical “answers” implied by each of the core
metaphors. In addition, course assignments will provide opportunities to apply theoretical
concepts to real-world cases, and to experience mcro-organizational phenomena in a hands-on
simulation.
Activities: Sociology 1315 is designed to help you develop theoretical knowledge, use that
knowledge critically to assess your experiences in organizational settings, and apply that
knowledge to the challenges of real organizations. Thus, the course takes a four-pronged
approach to teaching about organizational behavior:
Lectures and readings will introduce you to classic and contemporary OT scholarship.
Case study projects will hone your skills at connecting abstract theories to the pressures
and choices faced by real-world managers in real-world businesses.
Hands-on learning experiences will allow you to encounter organizational theory in the
first-person, through exercises and simulations.
Section discussions will allow you to explore and synthesize theories, experiences, and
real-world dilemmas, in conversation with your classmates and the instructional team.
3
Spring 2016
MACRO-ORGANIZATIONAL THEORY:
Organizations in Social Context
T/Th 10:30am - 11:50am
Salomon Center 001
Instructor
Professor Mark C. Suchman
Office: 208 Maxcy Hall
Office Hours: Th 1:30pm - 3:30pm; or by appointment
Contact:
Teaching Assistants
Elizabeth (Liz) Brennan Aisalkyn Botoeva Zachary (Zack) Wilmot
Office: 008 Maxcy Hall Office: 408 Maxcy Hall Office: 008 Maxcy Hall
Hours: T 1:30pm -3:30pm Hours: T 12:00pm - 2:00pm Hours: Th 1:00pm - 3:00pm
Contact: Contact: Contact:
Course Description
The field of Macro-Organizational Theory, or “OT” for short, focuses on the large-scale social
dynamics of organizational life. It takes the organization in total as the primary unit of analysis
and analyzes both how organizations are composed “bottom up” from various sometimes
competing, sometimes synergistic subunits, and also how organizations are conditioned “outside
in” by various sometimes constraining, sometimes empowering external forces.1
Examining organizations at this macro-sociological level, Sociology 1315 explores questions
about organizational decision-making processes, about coordination and control of
organizational subunits, and about boundaries and relations among organizations and between
organizations and the surrounding socio-political environment. Lectures and discussions will
cover a wide range of perspectives and draw examples from a wide range of organizational
settings -- corporations, non-profits, political parties, public agencies, the military, professions,
and voluntary associations.
1
This contrasts with micro-level approaches, such as those covered in Sociology 1311, which treat the organization
as context and focus primarily on the individual- and workgroup-level social-psychological dynamics that
organizations comprise and engender.
,Sociology 1315 Spring 2016
The goal is to survey the many different ways in which sociologists think about and study
organizational life. From various perspectives, we will ask and answer such Big Questions as:
What assumptions and metaphors do we deploy (either consciously or unconsciously) in
thinking about organizations? Are organizations like engineered machines? Like living
organisms? Like political coalitions? Like cultural rituals? What might each of these
metaphors accentuate, and what might each hide?
How do organizations arrive at “intelligent” decisions? How do they gather and process
information, predict future events, learn from experience, adjudicate disagreements, and
make sense of the unexpected?
How do organizations maintain order among their various subunits, levels and factions?
How do they integrate and coordinate multiple tasks, and how do they control and
suppress (or celebrate and exploit) dissent?
How do organizations draw, maintain and manage the boundaries between different
activities, and between the organization and the environment? What are the
consequences of inclusion and exclusion, self-sourcing and out-sourcing, bonding and
bridging, autonomy and embeddedness?
How are organizations shaped by the environments in which they operate? Which
aspects of the external world matter most for organizations’ fates? Can organizations
strategically select and construct environments in which they can thrive, or are
organizations at the mercy of forces beyond their control?
Structurally, the course builds on four major metaphors in organizational theory: the organization
as machine, the organization as organism, the organization as politics, and the organization as
culture. After briefly exploring each of these metaphors in the abstract, we will proceed to
examine core “problematics” at three distinct levels of analysis: organizational decision-making,
organizational structure, and the inter-organizational environment. Throughout, we will also
seek contrasts and commonalities both across metaphors and across levels.
Through theoretical readings, integrative lectures, open-ended discussions and real-world case
studies, you will develop a new set of lenses for seeing the “lines of force” that move the various
organizations in which we inevitably live out our lives. And, with luck and attention, you will
begin to cultivate your own style of harnessing and riding those lines of force, mindfully,
effectively and responsibly.
Note: Although this course is intentionally broad, it is not all-inclusive. We will occasionally
discuss managerial dilemmas, but this is not primarily a course in business administration. In
addition, we will give only passing consideration to traditional micro-economics and industrial
psychology. If you are interested in these topics, you may find Sociology 1315 to be a useful and
thought-provoking counterpoint, but you are unlikely to find it to be redundant -- or even entirely
consonant -- with other courses in your curriculum.
2
, Sociology 1315 Spring 2016
Course Objectives
Sociology 1315 provides a foundation of theoretical, empirical and experiential knowledge about
the structures, processes and effects of formal organizations in modern society – and about the
ways in which modern society permeates, constructs and constrains the organizations that arise
within it. Specific learning objectives include:
Describe current theoretical and empirical scholarship in the OT field.
Identify how OT concepts and findings apply to various types of public- and private-
sector organizations.
Analyze organizational structures and processes from multiple perspectives, comparing
and contrasting different models of organizational and environmental phenomena.
Recognize your own preferred perspectives, and understand how they might color your
interpretations of organizational events and experiences.
Strengthen your ability to diagnose and respond creatively to organizational challenges.
Strengthen your ability to build and maintain effective and sustainable organizational
enterprises and healthy and resilient organizational environments.
Course Format
Units: Thematically, Sociology 1315 is organized into four units. The first unit introduces the
core metaphors and debates of the field. The subsequent three units each examine a key
“problematic” in the field, at progressively more macro-sociological levels of analysis:
Decision-making and collective intelligence
Intra-organizational coordination and control
Inter-organizational boundaries and environments.
We will explore each of these problematics through a series of interrelated readings, lectures, and
discussions, examining the different theoretical “answers” implied by each of the core
metaphors. In addition, course assignments will provide opportunities to apply theoretical
concepts to real-world cases, and to experience mcro-organizational phenomena in a hands-on
simulation.
Activities: Sociology 1315 is designed to help you develop theoretical knowledge, use that
knowledge critically to assess your experiences in organizational settings, and apply that
knowledge to the challenges of real organizations. Thus, the course takes a four-pronged
approach to teaching about organizational behavior:
Lectures and readings will introduce you to classic and contemporary OT scholarship.
Case study projects will hone your skills at connecting abstract theories to the pressures
and choices faced by real-world managers in real-world businesses.
Hands-on learning experiences will allow you to encounter organizational theory in the
first-person, through exercises and simulations.
Section discussions will allow you to explore and synthesize theories, experiences, and
real-world dilemmas, in conversation with your classmates and the instructional team.
3
