Seminar Current debates in the sociology of organizations

Course Description The field of organizational theory has a rich history and tradition but is also constantly changing as new developments in societies and markets challenge our understanding about how organizations work. The basic idea of the seminar is to trace the development of different perspectives in organizational research over time. What we will do is to review a few -classical” approaches in organizational research and then survey and discuss the respective theoretical advancements and empirical applications that occurred. Designated topics are, for instance, institutional theory, organizational networks, and organizations and culture. However, students are encouraged to suggest additional topics of interest. Accordingly, the seminar consists of several blocks, each comprising two to four sessions. In each first session, the objective is to discuss a classic study or article; in the sessions that follow, we will turn to the more recent developments and adaptations in the specific area. The primary objective of this seminar is to give students an in-depth insight into the rich field of organization research, as a selection of approaches will be treated in detail. Further, students will learn how theoretical perspectives and accounts change over time. The course is organized as a seminar. Students will have to read articles (English language only) and be prepared for general discussions about the session topic. Further, students will be required hold a summarized presentation about one topic (article). To facilitate adequate preparation, the number of readings for each session has purposely been kept small. Sozialwissenschaften Universität Duisburg-Essen SoSe 2014 Soz M.A., Soziologie (Master of Arts) Sozialwissenschaften