STV9031 – SCANCOR- Studying organizational change
Schedule, syllabus and examination date
Course content
Understanding organizational change has been one of the main topics in organization theory from the classical writings of Max Weber, Chester Barnard and Philip Selznick to current theoretical streams like neo-institutionalism, strategic management, population ecology and organization design. The focus of this course is on empirical studies of organizational change, outlining different perspectives on how to conceptualize it, how to measure it, as well as different empirical strategies based in different ontological and epistemological positions. This course aims to provide frameworks for the empirical study of organizational change, emphasizing how different perspectives on change will have consequences for empirical strategies for studying change. The students will be introduced to empirical studies of organizational change from disciplines as diverse as political science, management, psychology, and educational sciences.
The course will be structured around the following topics or themes:
- Conceptualizing organizational change, including an ontological and epistemological discussion of organizations as fixed objects or fluid processes. This part will introduce the students to a generic model used to identify the main elements in studying change: driving forces, content (structure and culture), process, and context.
- Operationalizing the content of change: formal structure (including strategies and policies, vertical and horizontal specialization, incentives, and written rules and routines), organizational culture (with a focus on attitudes, values and norms as well as artefacts), and behavior (at individual, group and organization level).
- Discussing the role of context on change, both internal contextual elements (type of organization, size, etc.) and external (technical and institutional environments). This will also entail a discussion of the transferability of studies of organizational change from one context to another.
- Specifying the process of change with a special focus on the role of both chronological and subjective time, series of events, and path dependency/historical dependence
- The role of agency in organizational change. Alternatives to the dominant teleological logic; change as evolution, life cycles, dialectics, and change as garbage can processes. This part will also take up the discussion on how to study the leadership of change.
- Different empirical strategies to study change with a main focus on variance versus process studies. This part will also contain a discussion on the appropriate level of analysis, how to link different levels of analysis, and on the measurement of the effects of change – both intended and unintended.
Learning outcome
- Knowledge of the main ontological/epistemological approaches to studying organizational change (variance versus process perspectives), and how to apply them in practical, empirical studies of change
- Ability to specify and operationalize the main elements of the content and context of change (variance perspective)
- An understanding of studying change as a process, with a focus on the dynamic interplay between actors, events and time
- Be acquainted with the discussion on the role of agency in organizational change and how it relates to leadership of change
Admission
To take part in this course you have to be enrolled in a PhD-programme at one of the SCANCOR partner universities.
Application deadline: April 19th
Teaching
The course will take place as a three-day intensive seminar and will be a mix of predominantly lectures and interaction during the lectures. The students will also be required to prepare a draft paper for the course, present it, and comment on (at least) one other draft.
Compulsory activities
- Read the literature (approximately 1000 pages) in advance of the course
- Attend lectures and seminars
- Prepare a preliminary draft and hand it in before the course, present the draft, and operate as discussant for one other draft
- Submit paper
Examination
Paper of 6000 – 8000 words on a topic relevant for the course. The paper will be graded “pass” (deadline for handing in final paper to be announced later)
Grading scale
Grades are awarded on a pass/fail scale. Read more about the grading system.
Practical information:
Lecturer: Prof. Dag Ingvar Jacobsen, Department of Political Science and Management, University of Agder
Dates spring 2022: June 20 – June 22, 2022
Schedule spring 2022:
June 20 & June 21, kl.9 – kl.17 (7.5 hrs of teaching)
June 22, kl.9 – kl.15 (5.5 hrs of teaching)
Place:
Oslo (University of Oslo, Blindern campus, Harriet Holters Hus, Seminar room 201)