Organizational Theory

The course deals with the exploration of theoretical currents and schools of thought around the existence, interpretation, and analysis of the phenomenon of organizations. Why are there organizations in the form we know them, and not in others, alternatives? How can we understand them? How can we interpret their behavior?

There is a plethora of theories that address the above questions, theories that come mainly from the basic disciplines of sociology and economic science. In this lesson we will discuss some of the most important and influential of these theories. We will refer to their problems, to the conceptual tools and arguments / arguments they use to reorganize the phenomenon of organization and organization, we will see their fields of application as well as the empirical findings that verify (or reject) their basic assumptions.

Final aim is to familiarize students with the theoretical currents and optical targeting, each from his own perspective, to explain and shed light on the existence and functioning of organizations as a distinct social formations.

 The content of the course includes::

• Lesson 1: Introduction and general overview
  SECTION 1: THE SCIENTIFIC BACKGROUND
• Lesson 2: Organizational Theory: the perspective of "rational" systems
• Lesson 3: Organizational Theory: the perspective of "natural" systems
• Lesson 4: Organizational Theory: the perspective of "open" systems
  SECTION 2: ORGANIZATIONAL THEORIES
• Lesson 5:  Contingency theory
• Lesson 6:  Behavioral theory
• Lesson 7:  Institutional theory ("old" and "new")
• Lesson 8: Evolutionary Theory & Evolutionary Economics
• Lesson 9: Resource Dependence
• Lesson 10: Transaction cost economics
• Lesson 11: Agency theory
• Lesson 12: Industrial Organization
• Lesson 13: Resource-based view of the firm