1 ORGANIZATION OF THE FIRM Prof. SARA BONESSO

2 From to Calender Monday h Room 10C Tuesday h Room 10C Room 10C Wednesday h Room 8B Holiday Monday 21 November Last class: Monday 12 December

Course overview The organization design issues and problems   Does organization matters? Introduction to organization design   The variables which orientate the organization design process  The organization of work – micro structure  Design variables  Division of labour (horizontal and vertical)  Coordination and control mechanisms  Forms of organization  Firm boundaries and networks 3

4 Recommended Reading List  Douma S. Schreuder H., 2008, Economic approaches to organizations, Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall (4th edition), chapters 1, 8.  Mintzberg H., The structuring of organization: a synthesis of the research, Prentice-Hall Englewood Cliffs, chapters 1, 2, 10 (pages ), 11.  Grandori A., 2001, Organization and economic behavior, 2 edition, London Routledge, Chapter 4 ( ), Chapter 8, 10, 11, 12 (pages , ).  Whittington R., Pettigrew A., Peck S., Fenton E., Conyon M., Change and Complementarities in the New Competitive Landscape: a European Panel Study, , Organization Science, 10(5),  Power point presentations   Further materials (cases, articles) available on the dropbox folder “Organization of the firm_materials)

5 Assessment (1)  Oral exam  Recommended readings  Power point presentations available on the web site of the course  Four exam sessions - 13 January 2012, room 8B, from 9.00 a.m. to a.m January 2012, room 3B, from 9.00 a.m. to a.m. - 1 exam in May/June exam in September 2012

Assessment (2): Project work Objective  The purpose of the project work activities is to provides students with the opportunity and challenge to apply the theoretical concepts acquired throughout the course to real cases. Guidelines  Form small group of 4-5 students  Each group will identify one topic related to organizational design  Each group will identify one topic related to organizational design issues (e.g. case of organization redesign; cases of specific organization form….). Materials can cover articles, company profiles downloaded from the websites; interviews of managers, etc.  Each group will prepare a written report.   The written report needs to include theory as well as your analysis, main findings, and conclusions. This report should not exceed 20 pages, font 11 pt normal, paragraphs justified using single spacing  In total this assignment is worth from 1 to 3 points added to the final grade of the oral exam. 6 Within Friday 18th November send to Name and address of the project leader and group members Within Wednesday 21th December send to the final report

Some ideas for project work  Describe and analyse cases of organization re-design  At micro level (job analysis)  At macro level (shift from a organization form to another) Identify the causes, analyse the design variables and the advantages of the new structure  Choose one coordination mechanism (teams, standardization…) and analyse its characteristics by means the discussion of real cases  Select one organization form and identify its characteristics, its advantages and disadvantages by means the discussion of real cases 7

8 Teaching Methods  in-class lessons  case studies  team work  visual supported training SPEACH AND WORKSHOP (to be defined)

9 CONTACT INFORMATION OFFICE HOURS Venice - San Giobbe Office n. 38 Wednesday Web site of the course Program, Presentation, Materials (Username e Password), Calender, Links

10 On line resources   Online Ebsco database - unive.it  Financial times  BBC  Knowledge Wharton  Harvard Business School (HBS) Working Knowledge  Business Week  Economist  BBC institutions   European Group for Organizational Studies   European Institute for Advanced Studies in Management   European Academy of Management