Much of our life, when we stop long enough to think about it, is linked to organizations.   Whenever we buy food, go to class,  pay bills, rent an apartment, see a movie, bury the dead or go to work we confront their existence.  We become involved, willingly or not, in a host of relationships and groups that affect our private and public lives.

In this course we will study organizations in some depth and ask, as philosopher Alfred North Whitehead says, some "silly questions".  Why do organizations exist? What what life like before they become larger and more powerful?  Are organizations really efficient? Who actually controls them and who should? Why do many people have trouble with bureaucracy?  How is the computer revolution changing organizational life? Is there such a thing as a bureaucratic personality? When do organizations serve human ends and when do they subvert them? How can you exert more influence over the impact they have on your life and the kind of society you live in?

Disclaimer:  Seton Hall University is not responsible for the content of these pages and/or the content of any pages or links that flow from them.  As the professor for this course, I take responsibility only for the content that I write myself on these pages, not for the content of the Web sites included or their links.  If anyone wishes to use my work, please feel free to do so.

Course Goals

1.  Identify and use sociological ideas and frameworks to analyze organizations
2.  Use knowledge to identify organizational problems and suggest feasible solutions to them
3.  Use critical thinking skills to debate various policy issues about organizations
4.  Demonstrate an ability to analyze qualitative and quantitative organizational data.
5.  Evaluate and critique ethical issues in organizations
6.  Learn how Information Technology is likely to change organizations
 

Grades

Two tests and a Final Exam - 1/3rd each

Text

R. Richard Ritti.  The Ropes to Skip and the Ropes to Know, 5th ed. Wiley, 1998.
 

Here are some additional items to help you with your course.  Consider bookmarking some of these.  Click through them early in the semester to get a feel for what they provide.

Reference Desk Online (a great site for looking up handy information)
Evaluating Web Sources and Pages (separating online junk from the jewels)
Sociological Subject Areas (the "sociology of" almost every topic)
Research Resources for the Social Sciences (many disciplines and techniques)

Visit Search Engine Watch if you are new to (or enjoy) them. In addition to the bigger ones, like Yahoo!, Altavista or  Lycos  there are a many others that are helpful and friendly. My favorite is Northern Light and Dogpile is a multi-search engine that uses several good search engines.
 

A. The Whys and Ways of Organizing Ourselves

  1. What sociologists mean by "organization" (slide show)
  2. From micro to macro levels of organizational existence (slide show)
  3. Types of organizations (slide show)
  4. Money vs. Profit: an important organizational difference (slide show)
  5. Organizations as social systems
 

B.  Max Weber and the Process of Rationalization

1.  Read: brief commentaries on Weber's ideas about: authority,  bureaucracy and rationalization on Weber's Home
               Page. (This Page is created/maintained by Frank Elwell, 1996, Verstehen: Max Weber's HomePage)

2.  Best/Worst Experiences:  Now that we've had some time to THINK about the organizations in our lives, let's turn to our EXPERIENCES with some of them.  Of course, Seton Hall U. comes to mind,  as well as places you have worked , or clubs, sports teams, churches/temples or other organization that you belong to.  BRING TO CLASS a short paragraph each on the worst and best experience you've had with an organization.  Analyze your experiences using some of the ideas/concepts, principles and themes from this and your other courses to date.  Identify in your answer some important issues/problems/ideas related in these experiences.

3. Read: Bowling Alone.  Bring in a one page reply to this interview with Robert Putman: How good is the evidence for his position? What other evidence might undermine his points? Do you agree with his suggested solutions and why?
 
 

C.   Learning the Ropes

       1. Read:  Ritti.  The Ropes' Prologue and Part One: all sections

       2. Read a few chapter summaries from Harvey Robbins and Michael Finley's newest version of Why Teams Don't Work.

       3. Why are we laughing? Find some cartoons from The New Yorker Magazine that deal with organizations.
 
 

D.   Power and Being Marginal in the Organization

        1.  Read: Ropes Part IV and all sections

        2.  Read:  The Glass Ceiling

        3.  Read:   The New Power Elite
 

Test #2

             Read: Ropes  Part III and all sections
 

F. Organizations as Criminals

      1. Read: White Collar and Corporate Deviance

      2. Surf: Corporate Watch (read one article about an organization in the U.S. and one outside the U.S.)
 
 

    1.  Surf: Slow Food.  Read about how food used to taste and how
                   international organizations are fighting theMcDonaldization
                   of our food. How successful is this likely to be and why?

    2.  Un-organizing Ourselves:  Surf this site for a variety of options that
                    turn organizations into sources of personal and societal
                    strength. Which is most appealing to you and why?
                    "Analyze, don't moralize".

    3.  Play the U.S.Budget Game:  See if you can fix things by changing
                    who gets the taxpayers' dollars.  Which allocation of
                    budget dollars best reflects democratic values in the U.S.
                    and why?

    4. Read:  The Adaptable Workforce  Are you ready for the "new contract"?

    5. Read:  The Office  A look at the future of the electronic office.