Print Print

CMF F35 - Philosophy of Organisation and Change* "NOT ESTABLISHED"

Faculty
Dr. Spencer Shaw
Course Coordinator
Lise Mourier
Prerequisite/progression of the course
Undergraduate. A level of at least intermediate (B I) in English is a prerequisite.
Course content, structure and teaching
Class work will consist of lectures, careful analysis of texts and group work. Groups will be formed to present the core arguments of important texts and these will be discussed and evaluated by other groups in class.
The course will serve as an introduction to the key debates in organisation theory which have been informed by philosophical schools of thought. Normally the disciplines of philosophy and organisation have been separated in the humanities and business studies. The increasing tendency to combine them today has led to a degree of mystification and confusion as the philosophical foundations involved are complex and need to be carefully unravelled when applied to organisation or change in a business context. Consequently, the aim of the course is to help students master the relevant business and philosophical texts in order to clearly understand what the basic issues are, and how they have developed at different periods in time. The focus area is organisations, the way they are formed, their ontological status, the way they allow/hinder change to occur. This includes shifting notions of subjectivity and the power/knowledge correlation.
The course will systematically unravel the many strands which have gathered around the understanding of organisations and change. We begin with the phenomenological approach and attempt to clarify functionalist sociology and the impact of phenomenological experience in the consciousness of the lifeworld. Husserl and Merleau-Ponty will be the key thinkers. The second half of the course looks at social constructionism and Gergen’s work. Finally the influence of Foucault and Deleuze will be analysed in terms of postmodern organisational theory. Throughout we will emphasise that though these movements have distinctive characteristics, there are common themes which carry considerable significance for the possibility of present day adaption and change.
The course's development of personal competences
The course will develop student’s ability to analyse complex texts in a lucid and coherent way. After defining the implications of philosophy for each school of organisational thought, students will be able to contextualise, question and explore traditional as well as current trends in organisation theory. They will be able to assess and evaluate relevant policies for initiating change and forming organisational strategy.
Learning Objectives
At the end of the course the students should be able to:
  • Have a broad comprehension of key philosophical concepts which have impacted the business enterprise.
  • Contextualise each new phase in organisation theory.
  • Discuss and analyse core theories in organisation and change as they have been influenced by philosophical concepts.
  • Think critically with the aid of fundamental philosophical concepts.
  • Discuss the feasibility of change as an imposed/spontaneous occurrence.
Type of examination, exam aids and assessment
The final examination will be a written paper ( minimum10 A4 pages) to be handed in 7 days after the course ends
Recommended literature
Course books:
  • G. Burrell and G. Morgan. Sociological Paradigms and Organizational Analysis Gower Publishing. 1979/1985
  • D. Crowther and M. Green. Organizational Theory. CIPD Publishing. 2004
  • M. Merleau-Ponty. The Visible and the Invisible. Evanston. 1968
  • K. Gergen. Social Construction in Context. London. Sage.2001.
  • G. Deleuze. Difference and Repetition. Athlone Press. !968/1994
  • M. Foucault. Discipline and Punish. Harmondsworth. 1977
Background reading:
  • M. Foucault. Power/Knowledge. New York. Pantheon. 1980.
  • D. Knights and G. Morgan. Corporate strategy, organizations, and subjectivity: a critique. Organization Studies 12. 1991.
  • S. Clegg. Weber and Foucault: Social theory for the study of organizations. Organization 1. 1994.
  • S. Shaw. Film Consciousness: From Phenomenology to Deleuze. McFarland. 2007.
  • B. Latour. We have never been modern. Harvard University. 1993
  • J. Derrida. Limited Inc. Northwestern Press. 2000.

Last updated by The Electives Office 22/06/2010