1.  TIME, PLACE & CONTACTS

• CLASSES MEET
• in Dey 305
• Tue, Thu 4:00-5:15 PM
• PROFESSOR
• François Nielsen - Email: francois_nielsen@unc.edu  Office: Hamilton 206  Hours: by appointment  Phone: 962-5064
• Home page -  http://www.unc.edu/~nielsen/
• TA
• Ping Chen - Email: pingchen@unc.edu  Office: Hamilton 254 (if not there check Hamilton 228)  Hours: Mon 3:00-5:00 & by appointment

2.  COURSE DESCRIPTION & GOALS

• dimensions describing the organizational structure, including
• the degrees of formalization, specialization, standardization, complexity, and centralization
• the shape of the hierarchy of authority
• the degree of professionalism
• the ratios of various types of personnel
• dimensions describing the organizational context, including
• the size of the organization
• its technology
• its environment
• its goals and strategies
• its internal culture
• how these contextual and structural dimensions are interrelated
• the mechanisms underlying major organizational processes including
• innovation and change
• information processing and control
• decision-making
• the dynamics of internal politics and intergroup conflict
• relationships among organizations and populations of organizations.

3.  READINGS

1.  Text

• DAFT, Richard L.  2001.  Organization Theory and Design.  (7th edition.)  Cincinnati, OH: South-Western Publishing.

2.  Class Notes on the Web

http://www.unc.edu/~nielsen/

• Class Notes in the side-bar, and choose the desired module
• or on Schedule & Outline in the side-bar, and choose the desired module

4.  EXAMS & REQUIREMENTS

I.  Student Pictures

II.  Honor Code

For more information on student duries under the Honor Code please see the web at

http://www.unc.edu/depts/honor/studinfo.html

[It is the responsability of students] To maintain the confidentiality of examinations by divulging no information concerning an examination, directly or indirectly, to another student yet to write that same examination.

III.  Requirements

• a "bubble sheet" for electronic scoring, available free of charge at Student Stores
• a pencil (#2 preferred) with an effective (soft, pink, tender!) eraser

• sampler of multiple-choice questions

(1) MIDTERM (40% of course grade)

• Thu 11 Oct  during regular class time.

(2) FINAL (55% of course grade)

• Mon 10 Dec at 8:00 AM

(3) CLASS PARTICIPATION (5% of course grade)

(4) PENALTY FOR MISSING PICTURE (1% of course grade)

IV.  Grading Procedures

• A = 90-100
• B = 80-89
• C = 70-79
• D = 60-69
• F = less than 60

V.  Exam Make-Up Policy

1. A make-up exam will be arranged ONLY for emergency reasons. The instructor must be notified BEFORE the exam takes place (if at all possible).  A desire to leave early before Fall/Spring break or the end of the session, plane reservations, vacation home reservations, marriage plans, marriage plans of relatives or friends, other appointments interfering with the exam schedule (including job interviews and non-emergency medical appointments), or other exams scheduled on the same day, are emphatically NOT valid reasons.
2. ALL MAKE-UP EXAMS ARE ORAL EXAMS.  Although a few students do well on oral exams, experience has shown that make-up grades tend to be LOWER than grades on the regular multiple-choice exams.
3. There is ABSOLUTELY no make-up for the final exam.  Students who anticipate that they will not be able to take the final on the announced date must drop the class at this time.

VI.  Posting of Grades

• Grades

VII.  How To Do Well in This Class

• attend lectures and the thursday discussion sessions consistently
• keep up with the readings in the textbook
• make sure you know how to answer the questions interspersed in the web notes as they often resemble questions on the tests
• if something is not clear, ask a question
• make friends with one or more students in the class and exchange email and phone numbers so you can share notes in case anyone has to miss class
• clarify expectations with the TA or Professor

• my friend Glenn Carroll at UC Berkeley Business School is fond to say that he became interested in organizations because, as a sociologist, he wanted to how society works; he realized that an organization is like a microcosm of society, but smaller and therefore easier to study.  Thus understanding organizations helps us understand how the larger society works.
• another intellectual aspect to consider, as sociologist Joan Huber argues, is that organization theory is one of the three core fields of sociology proper, as contrasted with other social sciences (the other two being demography and social stratification).  These are "core" fields of sociology in the sense that these are topics sociologists study, and not economists, psychologists, or other social scientists.  (Of course they teach and do research on organizations in business schools, but the people doing that are really sociologists in disguise.)
• of course there is the obvious practical reason that studying organizations helps one understand how they function, which helps one prosper in organizations and manage them effectively (although of course knowing the theory of organizations is only part of being a good manager; experience and intuition are also important)
• and finally consider that organization theory is a principal topic in business administration programs, one of their "trade secrets" so to speak; and if they can do it, you can too!

5. SCHEDULE & OUTLINE

Key to Readings:

Daft 1, Daft 2, etc. refer to Chapter 1, Chapter 2, etc. in the text by Richard DAFT.

Important Dates:

1. Thu 30 Aug - picture session (presence mandatory)
2. Thu 11 Oct - midterm (presence mandatory)
3. Mon 10 Dec 8:00 AM - final (presence mandatory)