Organizational Analysis Self Study Syllabus

General Syllabus for Organizational Analysis
Instructor: Daniel A. McFarland

T.A.: Charles J. Gomez
Join your future classmates and course alumni on Facebook!
Table of Contents
I. Course Overview
II. Requirements, Expectations, and Grading
III. Schedule for Quarter
IV. Course Readings
I. Course Overview
Organizations are groups whose members coordinate their behaviors in order to accomplish a
shared goal. They can be found nearly everywhere in todays society: universities, start-ups,
classrooms, hospitals, non-profits, government bureaus, corporations, restaurants, grocery stores,
and professional associations are some of many examples of organizations.
Organizations are as varied and complex as they are ubiquitous: they differ in size and internal
structure; they can entail a multiplicity of goals and tasks (some of which are planned and others
unplanned!); they are made up of individuals whose goals and motivations may differ from those
of the group; and they must interact with other organizations and deal with environmental
constraints in order to be successful. This complexity frequently results in a myriad of problems
for organizational participants and the organizations survival.
In this course, we will use organizational theories to systematically analyze how an organization
operates and can best be managed. Organizational theories highlight certain features of an
organizations structure and environment, as well as its processes of negotiation, production, and
change. Each provides a lens for interpreting novel organizational situations and developing a
sense for how individual and group behaviors are organized. Theories are valuable for the analyst
and manager because most organizational problems are unique to the circumstances and cannot
be solved by simple rules of thumb. Armed with a toolset of organizational theories, you will be
able to systematically identify important features of an organization and the events transforming
it; choose a theoretical framework most applicable to the observed mode of organizing; and use
that theory to determine which actions will best redirect the organization in desired directions.
In sum, the course has three goals: to become familiar with a series of real-world organizational
phenomena; to learn different theoretical perspectives that can elucidate these phenomena; and to
apply these different ways of seeing and managing organizations to cases. In such a fashion,
the course is designed to actively bridge theory and practice, exposing students to a variety of
conceptual tools and ways to negotiate novel situations.
Course Timeline
This course investigates a series of case studies of educational institutions, non-profits, private
firms, cooperatives and governmental organizations, and focuses on the change efforts and
experiences occurring within them. In addition to going over the cases, the videos for each
Last Updated: 2014.10.21
Module will introduce a new theory for making sense of the complex social reality of these
organizational contexts. The first module provides an overview of the organizational elements
we will use as the basis for our analyses. Subsequent modules progress through the field of
organizational theory, from its early treatment of organizations as isolated units of decision-
making, through current perspectives that focus on their interconnectivity.
Course Topics:
Module 1: Introduction
Module 2: Decisions by rational and rule-based procedures
Module 3: Decisions by dominant coalitions
Module 4: Decisions in organized anarchies
Module 5: Developing organizational learning and intelligence
Module 6: Developing an organizational culture
Module 7: Managing resource dependencies
Module 8: Network forms of organization
Module 9: Institutions and organizational legitimacy
Module 10: Organizational ecologies and course summary
Course Textbook
No readings are required to complete this course. However, thousands of prior students have
found the course textbook to be especially useful and worth the purchase. The textbook is over
200 pages in length but written in an accessible style. An e-book version costs about $10 plus
transaction fees, which will vary depending on your location.
Here is the manual

link: http://service.sipx.com/service/php/inspect_document.php?id=x-
b0f34db2-3f22-11e4-b0d4-22000a890e29
Please note the textbook is large and will take a while to download, so please secure a good
connection before commencing the download process. If you are mostly interested in single
modules of the course, then you can also purchase single chapters with links listed in the
syllabus.
II. Requirements, Expectations and Grading

Statement of Accomplishment (SoA)
The SoA involves 2-3 hour time commitment per week. The following tasks must be
accomplished with an overall C grade or higher (>72%):
Lectures: You only need to view either the with-face or without-face version for modules that
offer both options, but you must watch all lectures for each module.
Quizzes: You must complete the 10 stand-alone quizzes for each module. Each stand-alone quiz
may be retaken as many times as you like, but you can do the within-video quizzes as practice.
Forum participation: We want to encourage dialogue on the course content. Therefore, we ask
participants to perform one of three tasks for at least 5 out of the 10 module of the course:
(1) start a thread or (2) respond to someone elses post or (3) write a summary of a thread and
post it to the Summary Forum. The tasks can be done for any 5 modules and it can be in any
combination of the three tasks (i.e., starting 3 threads, 1 summary, and 1 responses; or starting 5
threads; or starting 3 threads and 2 responses; etc.) We do highly encourage you to spread these
tasks out such that you are doing at least one task per module. You are strongly encouraged to
"upvote" so crowd-sourcing draws the attention of participants to the highest quality
discussions.
Final exam: Whenever you feel confident after reviewing the material from all ten modules,
you are required to take an on-line final exam that assesses how well you comprehend the course
material as posted in the on-line lectures. The exam will be open book, but you are not allowed
to discuss the material with classmates. It will entail around 100 multiple choice questions
concerning the lectures and comparison of the theories. The final exam is ready at any time and
you may retake the final exam as many times as you would like. However, the exam cannot be
downloaded, and it must be taken online in a single, continuous 3-hour stretch. Save often in
case your connection fails, so then you can login again and take up the exam from where you left
off. All students are asked to observe the honor code. The code states it is the student's obligation
to not only avoid cheating but to report persons engaging in such behavior.
Extra Credit: You might be able to earn up to 5 points of extra credit by participating in online,
video-based group discussions based on class topics. We might have various discussion sessions
throughout the year, each lasting about 50 minutes. We will announce when the sessions will be
in advance. You can earn up to 5 points of extra credit (i.e., 5% of your grade), one per session
you participate in. Discussions will be held online via video conferencing on the talkabout
platform (https://talkabout.stanford.edu/). Talkabout is a system built around Google Hangouts.
You will therefore need to use Google Hangouts to participate in these discussions.
Final Grade Calculation:

50% Final exam (Graded as % correct)
25% Stand-alone quizzes (Graded as % correct)
25% Forum participation (#/5 tasks)
[+ 5% extra credit (#/5 discussions participated)]
Distribution of Statements of Accomplishment:
We will calculate everyone's final grades based on the above rubric. Students who receive a final
grade greater than 72% will receive a Statement of Accomplishment (SoA). We will calculate
grades at four times every year: mid-January, mid-April, mid-July, and mid-October of each
year.
Thus, if your final grade was less than 72%, you can always retake any quizzes, exams, and post
more threads to the forum! YOUR GRADES ON ASSESSMENTS DO NOT RESET
whenever we distribute certificates, so you can focus on resubmitting specific assignments that
will get you over the 72% threshold. Remember, you can take any of the assessments as many
times as you like, BUT ONLY YOUR LAST ATTEMPT IS COUNTED towards your final
grade!
Course Expectations
The course is I will assume students have viewed the video, taken the quizzes, engaged on the
forum and rated some of the posted questions. I believe this will make the class a far more
interactive and engaging experience for everyone involved.
I would like your help making the forums as much of a civil and welcoming learning
environment as possible. To this end, please
Be friendly and considerate when talking to your fellow students.
Use up-votes to bring attention to thoughtful, helpful posts.
Post in the appropriate sub-forum.
Search before you post / affix tags to posts so search is facilitated.
More specifically, I would like you to follow Stanfords Code of Conduct in your interactions
and to follow the Honor Codes of both Stanford and Coursera when submitting your work. This
means participants are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner and not
plagiarize their work. It also means we all have a duty - for the good of the community - to report
peers who violate these policies. Violators of the honor code and / or code of conduct will be
removed from the course and fail to acquire a statement of accomplishment.
Grading
We will calculate grades using the following ratios:
Statement of Accomplishment (SoA)

50% Final exam (Graded as % correct)
25% Stand-alone quizzes (Graded as % correct)
25% Forum participation (#/5 tasks)
[Extra credit: 5% Group discussion: (#/5 discussions participated)]
The SoA will be awarded to students with an overall grade of C or greater (> 72%);
grades will be posted on your SoA.
The grading scale for each track will be as follows:

A+ = 100-98% A=97-94% A- =93-90%
B+ = 89-87% B=8683% B- =82-80%
C+ = 79-77% C=76-73%
Fail: C- to F =72% and below
Documenting your achievements

Coursera and Stanford limit the number of characters listed on Courseras Statement of
Accomplishment (SoA). As such, it is difficult to tell how much work you did and what a course
entails. To help you illustrate your accomplishments, we will be encouraging students to
document their work via accredible.com. Accredible is a platform that enables you to easily
document your learning, knowledge, and skills and showcase it to the world in a beautiful,
engaging way. You create a knowledge profile and individual Slates for the unique courses and
skills you have. By using the unique sign-up for the course located at:
https://www.accredible.com/c/organalysis, you will be able to upload the relevant materials and
track your progress towards completing the SoA. See below for an example of such a portfolios
signed-in view:
IV. Course Readings
In this course, I will discuss various readings. You are not required to purchase any. However,
many students have found the main texts and suggested optional readings especially useful and
worth acquiring for a summary of the course and a deeper understanding of the material. To help
with this, we will be using SIPX, a web service that provides access to reading materials. We
took great care in choosing quality readings at the lowest possible cost to you. Sometimes these
readings are under copyright ownership and you might need to pay copyright royalties to authors
and publishers. The SIPX service will manage these payment transactions for you, and also
make all digital documents (including those that don't require royalties) available for you in the
most efficient and easy way possible, for all our class readings.
Core Reading: Course Textbook

We have created a custom textbook, Organizational Analysis, specifically for this course. The
textbook is available as an e-reader at the cost of around $10 US dollars, not including
transaction fees. SIPX affords a sliding scale on costs depending on where course participants are
located.
While the video lectures give you an overview of the organizational theories and some potential
applications, the textbook will present the same material in a cleaner fashion and allow you to
achieve a deeper understanding and ownership of the concepts from the course. To purchase the
textbook, use the following link through SIPX:
http://service.sipx.com/service/php/inspect_document.php?id=x-b0f34db2-3f22-11e4-b0d4-
22000a890e29
If you only intend to focus on individual modules, you can also download individual chapters as
PDFs for $2 USD.
Chapter 1: Introduction to Organizational Analysis, Organizational Analysis

Daniel A. McFarland, Charles J. Gomez, Pub. Daniel A. McFarland, Charles J. Gomez, 1-15,
2014
http://service.sipx.com/service/php/inspect_document.php?id=x-0c7eac76-3eec-11e4-b0d4-
22000a890e29
Chapter 2: Decision Making in Organizations, Organizational Analysis

2014
http://service.sipx.com/service/php/inspect_document.php?id=x-5e6618c0-3eed-11e4-b0d4-
22000a890e29
Chapter 3: Coalition Theory, Organizational Analysis

2014
http://service.sipx.com/service/php/inspect_document.php?id=x-fdc079d8-3eed-11e4-b0d4-
22000a890e29
Chapter 4: Organized Anarchy, Organizational Analysis

2014
http://service.sipx.com/service/php/inspect_document.php?id=x-83a7cc90-3eee-11e4-b0d4-
22000a890e29
Chapter 5: Organizational Learning, Organizational Analysis

2014
http://service.sipx.com/service/php/inspect_document.php?id=x-fa43e5f0-3eee-11e4-b0d4-
22000a890e29
Chapter 6: Organizational Culture, Organizational Analysis

2014
http://service.sipx.com/service/php/inspect_document.php?id=x-ab5f62ce-3eef-11e4-b0d4-
22000a890e29
Chapter 7: Resource Dependency Theory, Organizational Analysis

2014
http://service.sipx.com/service/php/inspect_document.php?id=x-23e73ece-3ef0-11e4-b0d4-
22000a890e29
Chapter 8: Network Forms of Organization, Organizational Analysis

2014
http://service.sipx.com/service/php/inspect_document.php?id=x-786ab08e-3ef0-11e4-b0d4-
22000a890e29
Chapter 9: Neoinstitutional Theory, Organizational Analysis

2014
http://service.sipx.com/service/php/inspect_document.php?id=x-e4274648-3ef0-11e4-b0d4-
22000a890e29
Chapter 10: Organizational Ecology, Organizational Analysis

2014
http://service.sipx.com/service/php/inspect_document.php?id=x-37936028-3ef1-11e4-b0d4-
22000a890e29
Chapter 11: Summary of Theories, Organizational Analysis

2014
http://service.sipx.com/service/php/inspect_document.php?id=x-88052d02-3ef1-11e4-b0d4-
22000a890e29
Supplementary Readings
In addition to the textbook, we will also recommend supplemental readings to further enrich the
material covered each module. The supplemental readings are not required for any of the tracks.
For each module, we recommend around 100 pages of reading. The majority of these are primary
texts rather than secondary compilations, because textbook compilations tend to massage the
original ideas into the editor's argument, and I want you to leave with a toolkit of theories that
you feel have some distinctiveness from one another. The readings in each module fall into one
of three categories:
Theory A detailed exploration of a theoretical approach to understanding organizations and

their behavior.
Application - Scholarly applications of an organizational theory to a real-world phenomenon.
Case A narrative about a real-world organizational issue or process that has not been analyzed.
The videos will heavily deconstruct the more dense theory readings, but the organizational cases
will hopefully be fairly straightforward.
All of the supplemental readings for the course are available electronically, with the exception of
one book in Module 8 (Governing by Network: The New Shape of the Public Sector, Goldsmith
and Eggers). The Supplemental Readings page on the main website will direct you to SIPX, a
digital course materials service, which will list the links to these readings.
Accessing readings: cost and logistics

The link by each reading will take you to SIPX, a digital course materials service. If this is the
first time you have used SIPX, you will need to provide your email address to create a SIPX
account. If you have a .edu or similar email address associated with an institution of higher
learning, please sign up with it- you may receive extra discounts as a result. Once you have
made your account, you can select individual works that you would like to access for the course.
If an article or book excerpt is provided for free, you will be given immediate access to a PDF
copy; if not, then you will need to pay for it via PayPal, and then you will be given access to the
PDF. You may purchase items individually or all at once. These copies will be licensed for your
personal use only - please do not redistribute them. See the SIPX FAQ or more information and a
direct link to ask questions about the system.
Readings range in price from free to US$17 (for a book). If you choose to purchase all of the
readings, you can expect to pay just over US$100. You may also want to explore other means of
finding the readings - for example, through an account with your school or public library, for sale
by a private vendor like Amazon, or elsewhere on the web. I will try to provide a more thorough
summary lecture of readings that are costly or less available. We can also make them more a part
of the screen-side chats in class.
READINGS
INTRODUCTION
Module I. Organizational Elements and Organizing Narratives (88pp)
Textbook: (15pp)
McFarland, Daniel and Charles Gomez. 2013 (1st ed). Introduction to Organizational Analysis,
Chapter 1 (pp. 1 - 15) of Organizational Analysis.
http://service.sipx.com/service/php/inspect_document.php?id=x-0c7eac76-3eec-11e4-
b0d4-22000a890e29
Theory: (27pp)
Scott, Richard. 2003 (5th ed). The Subject is Organizations, Chapter 1 (pp. 3-30) of
Organizations: Rational, Natural and Open Systems, 5th Edition, Englewood Cliffs, NJ:
Prentice-Hall.
http://service.sipx.com/service/php/inspect_document.php?id=x-9e29ba56-345d-11e4-
b0d4-22000a890e29
Case: (46pp)
Metz, Mary Haywood. 1986. Adams Avenue School for Individually Guided Education.
Chapter 4 (pp. 57-103) in Different by Design: The Context and Character of Three
Magnet Schools. Routledge: New York.
http://service.sipx.com/service/php/inspect_document.php?id=x-bc588960-3464-11e4-
b0d4-22000a890e29
Guiding questions:
How do these readings fit your experiences in organizations? Think about your experiences in
educational, governmental, non-profit, and for-profit organizations. Think about the elements of
these organizations their goals, technology (curriculum), social structure (roles and rules),
participants, and salient environment. What seemed to matter most?
Many organizations try to change or reform how organizing is done. Think about how various
reforms treat and characterize organizations. What organizational elements are seen as central to
a reform? What level / unit of analysis is of concern? What is the boundary to an organization
and a reform effort? Who and what matters in the environment? What makes for a successful or
unsuccessful reform? What kind of account would you give for an organization and its reforms?
Would you characterize the organization as rational, natural, or open system?
Example paper question:

Consider Metzs account of a magnet school and its organization or your own organization. How
do Scotts organizational elements and rational-natural-open models apply? How well does it
apply? What does it capture? What does it miss?
PART I. ORGANIZATIONAL DECISION MAKING
Module II Decisions by Rational and Rule-Based Procedures (121pp)
Textbook: (23pp)
McFarland, Daniel and Charles Gomez. 2013 (1st ed). Decision-Making in Organizations,
Chapter 2 (pp. 16 - 38) of Organizational Analysis.
http://service.sipx.com/service/php/inspect_document.php?id=x-5e6618c0-3eed-11e4-
b0d4-22000a890e29
Theory: (25pp)
March, James G. 1999. "Understanding How Decisions Happen in Organizations." Chapter 2 in
The Pursuit of Organizational Intelligence, pp. 13-38. Oxford, UK: Blackwell
Publishers.
http://service.sipx.com/service/php/inspect_document.php?id=x-51fb0e9a-3468-11e4-
b0d4-22000a890e29
Application: (29pp)
Allison, Graham T. 1969. Conceptual Models and the Cuban Missile Crisis. The American
Political Science Review 63, 3:689-718.
http://service.sipx.com/service/php/inspect_document.php?id=x-a8d6df4a-2fb9-11e4-
b0d4-22000a890e29
Case: (44pp)
Dorothy Shipps, The Businessmans Educator: Mayoral Takeover and Nontraditional
Leadership in Chicago, in Powerful Reforms with Shallow Roots, ed. Larry Cuban and
Michael Usdan, pp. 16-34 (NY: Teachers College Press).
http://service.sipx.com/service/php/inspect_document.php?id=x-c5bb7d28-3482-11e4-
b0d4-22000a890e29
Bryk, Tony. 2003. No Child Left Behind, Chicago-Style. In Peterson, P. W., and West, M. The
Politics and Practice of School Accountability. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution
Press, pp. 242-268.
http://service.sipx.com/service/php/inspect_document.php?id=x-8d358f08-385f-11e4-
b0d4-22000a890e29
Guiding Questions:
Many decisions were probably made in the organizations you belonged to. In your experience,
how many of those decisions were based on a logic of consequence or a logic of
appropriateness? Who made decisions, when, and in what situations? What went into making
them? Did actors learn and adapt from experience or forget and make the same mistakes?
Compare the rational actor model to the organizational process model. What are the main tenets
of each theory? What organizational elements does each emphasize? What preferences matter?
What rules, identities, or values matter? How do the rational actor model and the organizational
behavior model apply to the Chicago cases? What influences the decision process? Are options
weighed? What occurs and what does not?
Example Paper Question:

Apply the rational actor model or the organizational process model to your organization. How
well does it apply, and where does it fall short? Or apply one of the models to a phase of the
Chicago reform case. Does the theory explain certain features of the Chicago case well? What
does it miss?
Module III. Decisions by Dominant Coalitions (138pp)
Textbook: (14pp)
McFarland, Daniel and Charles Gomez. 2013 (1 st ed). Coalition Theory, Chapter 3 (pp. 39 -
52) of Organizational Analysis.
http://service.sipx.com/service/php/inspect_document.php?id=x-fdc079d8-3eed-11e4-
b0d4-22000a890e29
Theory: (7pp)
Scott, Richard. 2003 (5th ed). The Dominant Coalition (pp. 296-303) of Organizations:
Rational, Natural and Open Systems, 5th Edition, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
http://service.sipx.com/service/php/inspect_document.php?id=x-51fb0e9a-3468-11e4-
b0d4-22000a890e29
Application (Allison from last module): (104pp)

Hula, Kevin W. 1999. Lobbying Together: Interest Group Coalitions in Legislative Politics.
Washington D.C.: Georgetown University Press (chapters 1-5, 7, and 9 [pp.1-77, 93-107,
122-135]).
http://service.sipx.com/service/php/inspect_document.php?id=x-f53beb08-385d-11e4-
b0d4-22000a890e29
Allison, Graham T. 1969. Conceptual Models and the Cuban Missile Crisis. The American
Political Science Review 63, 3:689-718 review 3rd model from last time.
http://service.sipx.com/service/php/inspect_document.php?id=x-a8d6df4a-2fb9-11e4-
b0d4-22000a890e29
Case: (13pp)
Quinn, Rand. 2005. The Politics of School Vouchers: Analyzing the Milwaukee Parental Choice
Plan. Stanford University School of Education Case.
http://service.sipx.com/service/php/inspect_document.php?id=x-05868fa0-32fe-11e4-
b0d4-22000a890e29
Witte, John. 1999. The Milwaukee Voucher Experiment: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. Phi
Delta Kappan, September: 59-64.
http://service.sipx.com/service/php/inspect_document.php?id=x-bfd7a63a-3459-11e4-
b0d4-22000a890e29
Hurricane Katrina -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Katrina
Guiding questions:
Compare the organizational behavior model to the governmental politics / coalition model. Apply
them to the Chicago, Milwaukee, and Hula cases (esp. education lobbying). How can a coalition
form when multiple actors have inconsistent preferences and identities? How is agreement even
tenuously accomplished? Is school and non-profit governance the result of strange bedfellows?
What about home-schooling advocates (secular and fundamentalist groups) and voucher
programs (Milwaukees African American community and Republican politicians)? Can
coalitions have extended lives? If you are a manager of a coalition, what can you do to manage it
successfully?
Example Paper Question:

Use the coalition / bureaucratic process model to analyze the Milwaukee case or one like it. Be
critical and discuss the strengths and weaknesses afforded by this theoretical perspective in
elucidating the case.
Module IV. Decisions by Organized Anarchies (163pp)
Textbook: (19pp)
McFarland, Daniel and Charles Gomez. 2013 (1 st ed). Organized Anarchy, Chapter 4 (pp. 53 -
71) of Organizational Analysis.
http://service.sipx.com/service/php/inspect_document.php?id=x-83a7cc90-3eee-11e4-
b0d4-22000a890e29
Theory & Application: (144pp)

Kingdon, J. W. 1995. Agendas, alternatives, and public policies, second edition. Chapter 4-8
(pp. 71-195 [Chapter 9 (pp. 196-209) is optional, but recommended]). Longman.
http://service.sipx.com/service/php/inspect_document.php?id=x-eaed4088-345d-11e4-
b0d4-22000a890e29
Birnbaum, Robert. 1989. The Latent Organizational Functions of the Academic Senate: Why
Senates Do Not Work But Will Not Go Away? Journal of Higher Education 60
(July/August) 4: 423-443.
http://service.sipx.com/service/php/inspect_document.php?id=x-dab04226-2fba-11e4-
b0d4-22000a890e29
Case (same as last module): (0pp)

Quinn, Rand. 2005. The Politics of School Vouchers: Analyzing the Milwaukee Parental Choice
Plan. Stanford University School of Education Case.
http://service.sipx.com/service/php/inspect_document.php?id=x-05868fa0-32fe-11e4-
b0d4-22000a890e29
Witte, John. 1999. The Milwaukee Voucher Experiment: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. Phi
Delta Kappan, September: 59-64.
http://service.sipx.com/service/php/inspect_document.php?id=x-bfd7a63a-3459-11e4-
b0d4-22000a890e29
Guiding Questions:
Is Garbage-Can Theory merely a descriptive theory or can it be used to improve management?
How can you better manage in a world of organized anarchies? Can we take Kingdons
argument and better understand why certain issues in education are more salient to policy makers
than others? What would we need to know to apply Kingdons model? Reflect on all the issues,
policies, and shifting participants shaping educational policy at the national level. Which ones
have languished? Which have reached the public agenda only briefly? Which remain there or
arise repeatedly? Who and what make them salient or ignored? From your experience which
actors and what meetings serve to establish the education policy agenda is it the bureaucrats,
the elected officials, or the lobbyists? Is it a yearly meeting, an unscheduled crisis, or an election
issue? What other issue streams compete and push educational policy issues off the legislative
radar? How are faculty senates much like an organized anarchy?
Can we apply Garbage-Can Theory to the Milwaukee Voucher case? Whats missing? What
kinds of things do we need to know in order to apply it? How can managers get issues heard and
decided upon in these circumstances?
Paper Question:
How does GCT apply to the Milwaukee choice plan? Where does it find support? What other
information is needed? What does it suggest about how the choice plan could be managed? Or
select another case of policy-making. Apply the theory critically, identifying its limits and
strengths.
Module V. Organizational Learning and Intelligence (115pp)
Textbook: (17pp)
McFarland, Daniel and Charles Gomez. 2013 (1 st ed). Organizational Learning, Chapter 5 (pp.
72 - 88) of Organizational Analysis.
http://service.sipx.com/service/php/inspect_document.php?id=x-fa43e5f0-3eee-11e4-
b0d4-22000a890e29
Theory: (55pp)
Brown, John Seely and Paul Duguid. 2000. Practice Makes Process, and Learning in Theory
and Practice. Chapters 4-5 (pp. 91-146 [and endnotes appended]) in The Social Life of
Information. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press. (Chapter 4)
http://service.sipx.com/service/php/inspect_document.php?id=x-4917b418-3841-11e4-
b0d4-22000a890e29
(Chapter 5) http://service.sipx.com/service/php/inspect_document.php?id=x-8451ed78-
3841-11e4-b0d4-22000a890e29
Applications: (43pp)
Leithwood, Kenneth and Karen S. Louis. 1998. Organizational Learning in Schools: An
Introduction. Chapter 1 (pp. 1-8) in in Organizational Learning in Schools. Tokyo:
Swets & Zeitlinger.
http://service.sipx.com/service/php/inspect_document.php?id=x-112b1a8e-3465-11e4-
b0d4-22000a890e29
Louis, Karen Seashore and Sharon D. Kruse. 1998. Creating Community in Reform: Images of
Organizational Learning in Inner City Schools. Chapter 2 (pp. 17-46) in Organizational
Learning in Schools. Tokyo: Swets & Zeitlinger.
http://service.sipx.com/service/php/inspect_document.php?id=x-112b1a8e-3465-11e4-
b0d4-22000a890e29
Lieberman, Ann. 2000. Networks as Learning Communities: Shaping the Future of Teacher
Development. Journal of Teacher Education 51, 3: 221-227.
http://service.sipx.com/service/php/inspect_document.php?id=x-dc3d5502-2fb5-11e4-
b0d4-22000a890e29
Case:
Read about the World of Warcraft and information on guilds:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_of_Warcraft
http://www.wowwiki.com/Guild
View the BigThink video of John Seely Brown discussing the World of Warcraft (this is also
posted as a lecture on Coursera) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhuOzBS_O-M
Guiding questions:
How do organizations remember what works, identify problems, and then solve them? Where is
organizational learning in an organization like a school? What would be considered improvement
and signs of adaptation for the better? How are these adaptations transferred and diffused? How
does Liebermans notion of learning communities try to relate to organizational learning? How
does this compare to Liebermans case? How can culture facilitate learning as well? How does
the organizational learning / adaptation perspective differ from others? What unit of analysis and
organizational elements does it focus upon?
Paper Question:
Use the organizational learning approach and explain how it would apply to an organization like
your own, schools, or the World of Warcraft. Be critical and consider how other theories might
better apply.
Module VI. Organizational Cultures (~160pp)
Textbook: (17pp)
McFarland, Daniel and Charles Gomez. 2013 (1st ed). Organizational Culture, Chapter 6 (pp.
http://service.sipx.com/service/php/inspect_document.php?id=x-ab5f62ce-3eef-11e4-
b0d4-22000a890e29
Theory:
Martin, Joanne and Debra Meyerson. 1988. Organizational Cultures and the Denial,
Channeling and Acknowledgment of Ambiguity. Chapter 6 (pp. 93-125) in Managing
Ambiguity and Change, L. Pondy, R. Boland, and H. Thomas (Eds).
http://service.sipx.com/service/php/inspect_document.php?id=x-f98a39e8-3467-11e4-
b0d4-22000a890e29
Application:
Kunda, Gideon. 1992. Engineering Culture: Control and Commitment in a High-Tech
Corporation. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press. (Read chapter 1, skim 2, and
then read intro/concluding sections of chapters 3-5 as well as the text following every
section heading within those chapters. Skim chapter 6.)
http://service.sipx.com/service/php/inspect_document.php?id=x-6cca2d6a-3845-11e4-
b0d4-22000a890e29
Case: (+10 pp, Metz is same reading from module 1)

Diehl, David. 2006. The Mill Town Case and Small Schools Reform. Stanford University
School of Education Case.
http://service.sipx.com/service/php/inspect_document.php?id=x-b48fa0a0-32fd-11e4-
b0d4-22000a890e29
Metz, Mary Haywood. 1986. Adams Avenue School for Individually Guided Education.
Chapter 4 (pp. 57-103) in Different by Design: The Context and Character of Three
Magnet Schools. Routledge: New York.
http://service.sipx.com/service/php/inspect_document.php?id=x-bc588960-3464-11e4-
b0d4-22000a890e29
Guiding Questions:
In section, you will be asked to imagine how an organizational culture can be engineered and
managed so as to serve the goals of schooling (imagine a classroom or school culture engineered
in the Kunda-way). How could it be engineered at the Mill Town High School?
How is culture and its interpretation re levant to the study and management of
organizations? How do managers create and alter organizational cultures? How do members
negotiate and adapt to them? What are examples of codified ideologies in schools? How do
actors engage in presentation rituals that generate an organizational culture? How do individual
persons relate to an organizations culture? Reflect on schools that appear to have a real mission,
ideology, and set of ritual practices (e.g., private religious schools, Deborah Meiers school, etc)
and imagine how Kundas concepts apply. Can we translate Kundas ideas so as to engineer
positive school cultures? Why or why not? How does the organizational culture view speak to
small school reform efforts?
Paper Question:
How can we use the culture approach to engineer a more productive organizational culture?
Think about the cases and organizations that interest you how do we create a healthy, effective
organizational culture that helps accomplish organizational goals?
PART II. ORGANIZATIONAL ENVIRONMENTS
Module VII. Resource Dependencies (74pp)
Textbook: (16pp)
McFarland, Daniel and Charles Gomez. 2013 (1 st ed). Resource Dependency Theory, Chapter
7 (pp. 106 - 121) of Organizational Analysis.
http://service.sipx.com/service/php/inspect_document.php?id=x-23e73ece-3ef0-11e4-
b0d4-22000a890e29
Theory: (27pp)
Davis, Gerald F. and Walter W. Powell. 1992. Selection from Organization-Environment
Relations (pp. 315-326). In Handbook of Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Vol
3 (2nd ed.). Eds. Marvin D. Dunnette and Leaetta M Hough. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting
Psychologists. (Focus on resource dependence parts and ignore references to transaction
cost economics and population ecology [if such theories interests you, those pages/refs
can be found in the reserves copy of the chapter])(reader).
http://service.sipx.com/service/php/inspect_document.php?id=x-5c467372-348a-11e4-
b0d4-22000a890e29
Scott, Richard. 2003 (5th ed). Resource Dependence (pp. 118-119) and Managing Task
Environments (pp. 197-212) of Organizations: Rational, Natural and Open Systems, 5th
Edition, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
http://service.sipx.com/service/php/inspect_document.php?id=x-9e29ba56-345d-11e4-
b0d4-22000a890e29
Case: (31pp)
Sarah V. Barnes. 1999. A Lost Opportunity in American Education? The Proposal to Merge the
University of Chicago and Northwestern University. American Journal of Education,
Vol. 107, No. 4:289-320.
http://service.sipx.com/service/php/inspect_document.php?id=x-907cb7b0-347f-11e4-
b0d4-22000a890e29
Guiding questions:
What are the resources in the Barnes example? What/who is dependent on whom for those
resources? Think about Channel 1 and vending machine contractors coming into schools, what
kind of compromises are made in such alliances? What about universities and big donors? Is
there a potential for cooptation or unwilling compromises in these instances? How can reformers
co-opt local participants without losing sight of the mission/goals? Isnt that something the
public sector is doing with philanthropic organizations (Gates) and non-governmental
organizations? How do resource dependence relations play a role in all this? How does a
manager behave if they believe resource dependence is key to organizational survival and
success? Can you imagine how and why school districts can merge? Why would schools merge
and how would that alleviate interdependence?
Paper Question:
Use resource dependence theory to explain the University of Chicago and Northwestern case.
What does it help explain? Where does it fail to hold? Would other theories have we covered that
would apply better? Where would successful management have focused in the Barnes case? Or
select a case that interests you and apply resource dependence theory to it in a critical fashion.
Module VIII. Network Models of Organizing (167pp)
Textbook: (22pp)
McFarland, Daniel and Charles Gomez. 2013 (1st ed). Network Form of Organization, Chapter
8 (pp. 122 - 143) of Organizational Analysis.
http://service.sipx.com/service/php/inspect_document.php?id=x-786ab08e-3ef0-11e4-
b0d4-22000a890e29
Theory: (7pp)
Davis, Gerald F. and Walter W. Powell. 1992. Selection from Organization-Environment
Psychologists. (Focus on network approaches to interorganizational relations and ignore
references to transaction cost economics and population ecology [if such theories
interests you, those pages/refs can be found in the reserves copy of the chapter])(reader).
b0d4-22000a890e29
Application: (118pp)
Stephen Goldsmith and William Eggers. 2004. Governing by Network: The New Shape of the
Public Sector (read Ch.1-5 or pp. 3-119, 156, 178]).
Case: (20pp)
Smith, Andrew K. and Priscilla Wohlstetter, 2001. Reform Through School Networks: A New
Kind of Authority and Accountability. Educational Policy 15, 4:499-519.
http://service.sipx.com/service/php/inspect_document.php?id=x-13ae6f3e-2fb7-11e4-
b0d4-22000a890e29
Guiding Questions:
How does the network form of organization relate to resource-dependency arguments? Whats
the difference between network forms of organization, hierarchical arrangements, and markets?
What are the coordination problems of network forms of organization, especially within and
between schools? How can we use networks to diffuse technologies (or new curricula) and make
them stick? How do we manage network forms of organization?
Paper Question:
Consider how the network form of organizing pertains to a case you are familiar with. Or use the
example of a non-profit and how it uses this approach to cobble together and improve services.
What does the theory explain well? What does it miss? What other theories would fill in the
gaps?
Module IX. Institutional Perspective (82pp)
Textbook: (19pp)
McFarland, Daniel and Charles Gomez. 2013 (1 st ed). Neoinstitutional Theory, Chapter 9 (pp.
http://service.sipx.com/service/php/inspect_document.php?id=x-e4274648-3ef0-11e4-
b0d4-22000a890e29
Theory: (20pp)
Davis, Gerald F. and Walter W. Powell. 1992. A selection from Organization-Environment
Relations (pp. 342, 354-365). In Handbook of Industrial and Organizational
Psychology, Vol 3 (2nd ed.). Eds. Marvin D. Dunnette and Leaetta M Hough. Palo Alto,
CA: Consulting Psychologists. (Focus on institutional perspectives discussion and ignore
references to transaction cost economics [if such theories interests you, those pages/refs
can be found in the reserves copy of the chapter]).
b0d4-22000a890e29
Scott, Richard. 2003 (5th ed). Institutional Theory (pp. 119-120) and Managing Institutional
Environments (pp. 213-220) of Organizations: Rational, Natural and Open Systems, 5th
Edition, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
b0d4-22000a890e29
Applications: (27pp)
Meyer, John W. and Brian Rowan. [1978] 2004. The Structure of Educational Organizations.
Pp. 201-212 in Schools and Society: A Sociological Approach to Education. Eds. Jeanne
Ballantine and Joan Spade. Canada: Wadsworth.
http://service.sipx.com/service/php/inspect_document.php?id=x-04690598-348f-11e4-
b0d4-22000a890e29
Metz, Mary Haywood. 1989. Real School: A Universal Drama Amid Disparate Experience.
Politics of Education Association Yearbook 1989:75-91.
http://service.sipx.com/service/php/inspect_document.php?id=x-de254d16-2c90-11e4-
b0d4-22000a890e29
Case: (16pp)
Intelligent Design Rears its Head. The Economist, July 28, 2005.
Politicized Scholars Put Evolution on the Defensive. New York Times, August 21, 2005.
Bai, Matt. The Framing Wars. NY Times Magazine, July 17, 2005 (pp. 1-8).
Guiding Questions:
How can rationalization in the environment influence organizations? What does it mean for an
organization to have institutional legitimacy? How does neo-institutional theory differ from
cultural explanations? Are educational organizations following dynamics of resource
dependence or neo-institutional theory? Think about universities, high schools, and then the
recent development of charters, vouchers, and schools within schools. What kind of research
would establish one theory over another? How do you manage an organization if environmental
myths are what matter most?
Paper Question:
How can we use neo-institutional theory to explain the intelligent design debates? What does it
help elaborate? What is missing? Or - compare the culture approach to the neo-institutional
approach in discussing the intelligent design debate. Which seems more applicable? What are
their key differences? Or consider a case that interests you. How does neo-institutional theory
apply? What are its strengths and weaknesses when it comes to descriptions and analysis, as well
as prescriptions for management?
Module X. Organizational Ecologies and Course Summary (59pp)
Textbook: (21pp)
McFarland, Daniel and Charles Gomez. 2013 (1 st ed). Organizational Ecology, Chapter 10 (pp.
http://service.sipx.com/service/php/inspect_document.php?id=x-37936028-3ef1-11e4-
b0d4-22000a890e29
McFarland, Daniel and Charles Gomez. 2013 (1 st ed). Summary of Theories, Chapter 11 (pp.
http://service.sipx.com/service/php/inspect_document.php?id=x-88052d02-3ef1-11e4-
b0d4-22000a890e29
Theory: (12pp)
Davis, Gerald F. and Walter W. Powell. 1992. A selection from Organization-Environment
Psychologists.(reader)
b0d4-22000a890e29
Application / Case: (26pp)

Renzulli, Linda. 2005. "Organizational Environments and the Emergence of Charter Schools in
the United States." Sociology of Education 78: 1-26. (nice demonstration of how multiple
theories can be brought to bear on a case)
http://service.sipx.com/service/php/inspect_document.php?id=x-bd330eb0-2fb8-11e4-
b0d4-22000a890e29
Guiding questions:
Is this a case best described by resource dependence, organizational culture, neoinstitutional
theory, or population ecology? Assuming cases can be explained by a variety of theories, how do
you assess which applies or not, and which does a better job explaining the observed
phenomena?
Reflect back on these and the applications for discussion section.

1. Magnet school reform (Metz)
2. Chicago public school reforms (Bryk, Shipps)
3. Milwaukee parental choice plan (Quinn, Witte)
4. Learning community reforms (Lieberman)
5. University of Chicago Northwestern merger effort (Barnes)
6. Charter school networks (Smith & Wohlstetter)
7. Intelligent design and teaching of evolution debate (NY Times)
8. The U.S. charter school movement
Does each theory apply to certain levels of analysis far better than others? When would we want
to focus on one level of analysis over another? Do these theories apply to certain types of
organizations more than others (sector)? Do they concern different stages of organizing better
than others? Can we integrate them in our explanations of multi-level, multi-staged
organizational phenomena? Which narratives would act as an umbrella / connector for these
types of explanations? How can a manager know when to pay attention to one view over
another?

Organizational Analysis Self Study Syllabus

Diunggah oleh

Informasi Dokumen

Hak Cipta

Format Tersedia

Bagikan dokumen Ini

Bagikan atau Tanam Dokumen

Opsi Berbagi

Apakah menurut Anda dokumen ini bermanfaat?

Apakah konten ini tidak pantas?

Hak Cipta:

Format Tersedia

Organizational Analysis Self Study Syllabus

Diunggah oleh

Hak Cipta:

Format Tersedia

General Syllabus for Organizational Analysis

Instructor: Daniel A. McFarland

Join your future classmates and course alumni on Facebook!

Here is the manual

II. Requirements, Expectations and Grading

Final Grade Calculation:

Statement of Accomplishment (SoA)

[Extra credit: 5% Group discussion: (#/5 discussions participated)]

The grading scale for each track will be as follows:

Documenting your achievements

IV. Course Readings

Core Reading: Course Textbook

Chapter 1: Introduction to Organizational Analysis, Organizational Analysis

Chapter 2: Decision Making in Organizations, Organizational Analysis

Chapter 3: Coalition Theory, Organizational Analysis

Chapter 4: Organized Anarchy, Organizational Analysis

Chapter 5: Organizational Learning, Organizational Analysis

Chapter 6: Organizational Culture, Organizational Analysis

Chapter 7: Resource Dependency Theory, Organizational Analysis

Chapter 8: Network Forms of Organization, Organizational Analysis

Chapter 9: Neoinstitutional Theory, Organizational Analysis

Chapter 10: Organizational Ecology, Organizational Analysis

Chapter 11: Summary of Theories, Organizational Analysis

Theory A detailed exploration of a theoretical approach to understanding organizations and

Accessing readings: cost and logistics

Module I. Organizational Elements and Organizing Narratives (88pp)

Example paper question:

PART I. ORGANIZATIONAL DECISION MAKING

Module II Decisions by Rational and Rule-Based Procedures (121pp)

Example Paper Question:

Application (Allison from last module): (104pp)

Hurricane Katrina -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Katrina

Example Paper Question:

Theory & Application: (144pp)

Case (same as last module): (0pp)

Case: (+10 pp, Metz is same reading from module 1)

PART II. ORGANIZATIONAL ENVIRONMENTS

Module VII. Resource Dependencies (74pp)

Application / Case: (26pp)

Reflect back on these and the applications for discussion section.

Anda mungkin juga menyukai