Seminar in Organization Theory

This course focuses on how organizations form, interact, thrive and decline. Drawing on foundational and contemporary research literature, we study major schools of thought including classical management theory; behavioral theory of organizational decision making and learning; social construction processes (including sensemaking); organizational identity, culture and conflict; forms of organizing; interorganizational relationships and networks; population ecology; organizational economics; institutional theories (old and new); and organizational change processes. For each topic, we analyze theoretical and empirical research to consider how different theories benefit from various research methods and how specific methods are used to explore different theoretical perspectives.