Objectives

The aim of the course is to give students a framework on current and future problems of business organization systems, focusing attention on the issues of complexity management.
In particular, the course aims to:
• provide the basics on the conceptual approaches and models that influence organizational action;
• provide a series of interpretative categories to analyze the organizations and to understand their complexity in terms of organizational configurations;
• develop critical and design skills through the realization of a project work/teamworks, also with the project management methodology;
• enhance critical communications skills during the course of lectures, seminars and in the presentation of the project result of the Laboratory of the didactic unit;
• in addition to the acquisition of a theoretical and methodological baggage, to enable students to develop a critical competence that leads them to distinguish, to know, to co-design complex organizational systems, but also to recognize the gray areas on which action to address the problematic issues of the innovation society.

Channels

1

RENATO FONTANA RENATO FONTANA   Teacher profile

Programme

The topics covered are as follows:

- an outline of the main organisational models: their contents, advantages and disadvantages (in terms of limits and potentialities);
- organisational change and innovation in the knowledge society and in the sectors of sharing economy;
- enterprise cultures, social capital and knowledge sharing in old production processes (standardisation of pathways)
and new ones (use of problem solving);
- Knowledge Management and Information & Communication Technology (ICT);
- social complexity, modernity and just in time logics.

Adopted texts

For attending students the course texts of the lectures are:
Fontana R., Complessità sociale e lavoro. La modernità di fronte al just in time, Roma, Carocci, 2013;
Fontana R. e Rocchi A. (a cura di), Innovare nella società delle reti, Milano, FrancoAngeli, 2019.

Students not attending must add the following text::
- Mintzberg H., La progettazione dell'organizzazione aziendale, Bologna, il Mulino, 2005, dal cap. VII al cap. XIII.

Reading suggestions:
Ferguson N., La piazza e la torre. Le reti, le gerarchie e la lotta per il potere. Una storia globale, Milano, Mondadori, 2017;
Daft R.L., Organizzazione aziendale, Milano, Apogeo, 2010;
Gallino L., Organizzazione, in Id., Dizionario di Sociologia, Torino, Utet, pp. 475-484.

Prerequisites

Knowledge of the classical theory of organization and of the main organizational structures of the enterprise typical of the industrial society.

Exam modes

Related to the course of lessons, the evaluation method is oral.
In regard to the Laboratory, instead, the evaluation method is based on the presentation and discussion of a written project drawn up in Power Point.
The result of the two assessments will be the final mark of the examination, on the basis of the weighted average. The regulations require that these two transactions take place in the same call. In case the project of the Laboratory is shared with others, students are required to present the project together, on the same day.

Exam reservation date start Exam reservation date end Exam date
07/12/2020 07/01/2021 13/01/2021
20/12/2020 20/01/2021 27/01/2021
03/01/2021 03/02/2021 10/02/2021
06/03/2021 06/04/2021 13/04/2021
02/05/2021 02/06/2021 08/06/2021
18/05/2021 18/06/2021 24/06/2021
07/06/2021 07/07/2021 13/07/2021
09/08/2021 09/09/2021 16/09/2021
12/09/2021 12/10/2021 19/10/2021

MAURIZIO BONOLIS MAURIZIO BONOLIS   Teacher profile

Programme


1.Disciplinary conceptual framework
2.Excursus on Action Theory
3.Action, conscience, knowledge
4.Outline of a Project Work on organizational innovation themes

Adopted texts

Programma tematico-bibliografico (DUE ALTERNATIVE)


1) PREPARAZIONE MEDIANTE ELABORATO SCRITTO (TESINA)
CON TESTI DI RIFERIMENTO DELLA LEZIONE FRONTALE

LE CATEGORIE SOCIOLOGICHE DEI PROCESSI DI INNOVAZIONE
Concetto di Mutamento
Struttura e Funzione
Il modello di Ogburn
Concetto di Invenzione
Concetto di Innovazione
La «complessità» in sociologia
Azione, corso di azione e sistemi metacognitivi
Il contributo delle teorie del mutamento
Diffusione e innovazione tecnologica
Analisi tipologica dei fenomeni innovativi
Sostenibilità e processi adattivi

TESTI DI RIFERIMENTO (NON: TESTI D’ESAME)
M.Bonolis, La deassiomatizzazione del principio di razionalità in sociologia, Milano, Franco Angeli, 2016.
M.Bonolis, Fecondità e rilevanza del concetto di «ritardo culturale». Una nota su Ogburn, in «Sociologia e ricerca sociale», vol. XXIX, no. 89, pp. 5-20.
G.Billia & A.Fabris (a cura di), L’organizzazione aziendale, Milano, Etas, 1967.
R.Fontana & A.Rocchi (a cura di), Innovare nella società delle reti. Sistemi organizzativi, processi produttivi e Project Management, Milano, Franco Angeli, 2019.



2) PREPARAZIONE TRADIZIONALE

LA ‘CULTURA D’AZIENDA’
TESTO D’ESAME
E.H.Schein, Cultura d'azienda e leadership, Milano, Raffaello Cortina Editore, 2018.

LETTURA DI COMPLEMENTO
E.H.Schein, Culture d’impresa. Come affrontare con successo le transizioni e i cambiamenti organizzativi, Milano, Raffaello Cortina Editore, 2000.

Prerequisites

No specific condition is required.

Exam modes


Oral interview and written tests

2

CARMELO LOMBARDO CARMELO LOMBARDO   Teacher profile

Programme

The course traces the history of empirical research in organizations through the critical analysis of the main research approaches in the organizational field.
The analysis of the survey research, ethnographic and ethnomethodological approaches and the illustration of several empirical case studies, will allow students to know in depth the main perspectives of organizational analysis, acquiring the ability to evaluate the of them for the sociological study of organizational dynamics.
The course is divided into the following thematic groups: 1) basic concepts, theories and organizational models 2) main approaches for organizational analysis (survey, ethnography, ethnomethodology), 3) evaluation of complex programs and organizational learning 4) design and construction of research studies in organizational contexts.

Adopted texts

1. M. Granovetter, Società ed economia, Milano, Egea;
2. P. DiMaggio, Organizzare la cultura, Bologna, il Mulino.

Bibliography

W.W. Powell, P. DiMaggio (eds.), The New Institutionalism in Organizational Analysis, Chicago, The University of Chicago Press

Prerequisites

No prerequisite required

Frequency modes

Attendance is highly recommended.

Exam modes

The assessment of the students' learning level will be carried out with a final oral exam, in which the project work will also be discussed.

Exam reservation date start Exam reservation date end Exam date
22/10/2019 28/12/2020 07/01/2021
18/11/2020 20/01/2021 29/01/2021
18/11/2020 05/02/2021 12/02/2021
12/02/2021 31/03/2021 12/04/2021
18/11/2020 20/05/2021 01/06/2021
18/11/2020 10/06/2021 22/06/2021
18/11/2020 28/06/2021 09/07/2021
18/11/2020 06/09/2021 15/09/2021
02/09/2021 15/10/2021 19/10/2021
18/11/2021 31/12/2021 10/01/2022

CRISTINA SOFIA CRISTINA SOFIA   Teacher profile

Programme

In the laboratory module (24 hours) a research work will be carried out and the methodological preparation necessary to carry out the project work will be provided.
This work will be an opportunity to apply the theoretical knowledge acquired in the first part of the course.

Adopted texts

Attending students: For the workshop module, texts on smartworking projects will be provided.

Non-attending students: they will have to bring an additional reading which will be indicated among the texts in the programme.

1) Mattiacci A., Nocenzi M., Sfodera F., Sofia C., 2020, “Le conseguenze sull’attività professionale: tra incertezze e opportunità”, in La società catastrofica. Vita e relazioni sociali ai tempi dell’emergenza Covid-19, volume disponibile in open access al link: https://ojs.francoangeli.it/_omp/index.php/oa/catalog/book/566
Solo il CAPITOLO 4.

2) Butera F., “Le condizioni organizzative e professionali dello smart working dopo l'emergenza : progettare il lavoro ubiquo fatto di ruoli aperti e di professioni a larga banda”, in Studi organizzativi : XXII, 1, 2020.

3) Riferimenti normativi sull’attuazione dello smartworking in Italia disponibili al seguente link: https://www.lavoro.gov.it/strumenti-e-servizi/smart-working/Pagine/default.aspx

Prerequisites

No prerequisites required.

Exam modes

Students will be invited to take part in a research activity.
Group project work and discussion of the project in the classroom are required.
The project carried out in the Laboratory on Company Processes and Organisational Culture (3 CFU) will be assessed with a grade in thirtieths, equal to one third of the overall grade for the course 'Complex Management Systems in the Society of Innovation _ Laboratory on Company Processes and Organisational Culture' (9 CFU).


3

Francesca Colella Francesca Colella   Teacher profile

Programme

The teaching program involves the construction of critical knowledge about innovation society, providing students with the tools of sociological analysis suitable for understanding social action and organizational action.
In particular, the course will be articulated starting from the following thematic nodes:

1. Social innovation: conceptual categories necessary for the understanding and analysis of social and cultural processes underlying the contemporary dynamics of innovation and social change in different contexts.
2. Studying organizations. What organizations are. Bureaucracy as a rational organization. Organizations as cooperative systems. The institutionalist approach. Economics of transaction costs and organizational populations. The "soft" approaches.
3. Current relevance of organizational studies: enhancement of generational, gender and cultural diversity in contemporary organizations.

The course, in particular the workshop part, will make use of cinematographic material (film) to address a series of business and managerial issues. Teachers will provide students (divided into groups of up to 5 members) a filmography in which to choose a specific film to be analyzed for group-work (thesis) and to critically investigate the themes of management, still indicated by teachers.

Adopted texts

1) Robin Murray, Julie Caulier Grice, Geoff Mulgan, "Il libro bianco sull’innovazione sociale, edizione italiana a cura di Alex Giordano e Adam Arvidsson (2011).
http://www.felicitapubblica.it/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Libro_bianco_innovazione_sociale.pdf
2) Giuseppe Bonazzi, Come studiare le organizzazioni, il Mulino, Bologna, 2006.
3) un testo sul Diversity Management in via di definizione.

4) Additional text for non-attending students:
A. Mats Alvesson, André Spicer, Il paradosso della stupidità. Il potere e le trappole della stupidità nel mondo del lavoro, Cortina Raffaello, 2017.

Bibliography

--

Prerequisites

Students are required to know basic sociology (including research methodology) and to have good learning, writing and oral communication skills.

Frequency modes

Incoming and Outgoing signature

Exam modes

Written test
Laboratory with written essay and oral presentation

Exam reservation date start Exam reservation date end Exam date
21/12/2020 08/01/2021 12/01/2021
10/12/2020 13/01/2021 28/01/2021
20/01/2021 03/02/2021 11/02/2021
02/03/2021 02/04/2021 13/04/2021
02/05/2021 01/06/2021 09/06/2021
10/06/2021 20/06/2021 24/06/2021
25/06/2021 05/07/2021 13/07/2021

VERONICA LO PRESTI VERONICA LO PRESTI   Teacher profile

Programme

The teaching program involves the construction of critical knowledge about innovation society, providing students with the tools of sociological analysis suitable for understanding social action and organizational action.
In particular, the course will be articulated starting from the following thematic nodes:
1. Social innovation: conceptual categories necessary for the understanding and analysis of social and cultural processes underlying the contemporary dynamics of innovation and social change in different contexts.
2. Studying organizations. What organizations are. Bureaucracy as a rational organization. Organizations as cooperative systems. The institutionalist approach. Economics of transaction costs and organizational populations. The "soft" approaches.
3. Current relevance of organizational studies: enhancement of generational, gender and cultural diversity in contemporary organizations.

The course, in particular the workshop part, will make use of cinematographic material (film) to address a series of business and managerial issues. Teachers will provide students (divided into groups of up to 5 members) a filmography in which to choose a specific film to be analyzed for group-work (thesis) and to critically investigate the themes of management, still indicated by teachers.

Adopted texts

1) Robin Murray, Julie Caulier Grice, Geoff Mulgan, The White Paper on Social Innovation, Italian edition edited by Alex Giordano and Adam Arvidsson (2011).
NOTE: The above text can be downloaded as a PDF at the link: http://www.felicitapubblica.it/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Libro_bianco_innovazione_sociale.pdf
2) Giuseppe Bonazzi, How to Study Organizations, the Mill, Bologna, 2006.
3) a text on Diversity Management being defined.

4) An additional text of your choice from:
A. Mats Alvesson, André Spicer, The Paradox of Stupidity. The power and traps of stupidity in the world of work, Cortina Raphael, 2017.

Materials for the laboratory:
Power point illustrations and other materials provided by the teachers

Prerequisites

Students are required to know basic sociology (including research methodology) and to have good learning, writing and oral communication skills.

Exam modes

Test
Workshop with written thesis and oral presentation

Exam reservation date start Exam reservation date end Exam date
13/09/2021 13/09/2021 16/09/2021
30/11/2021 28/12/2021 11/01/2022
Course sheet
  • Academic year: 2020/2021
  • Curriculum: Curriculum unico
  • Year: Second year
  • Semester: Second semester
  • SSD: SPS/07
  • CFU: 9
Activities
  • Attività formative caratterizzanti
  • Ambito disciplinare: Discipline della comunicazione pubblica e d'impresa
  • Lecture (Hours): 48
  • CFU: 6
  • SSD: SPS/07
  • Attività formative affini ed integrative
  • Ambito disciplinare: Attività formative affini o integrative
  • Lecture (Hours): 24
  • CFU: 3
  • SSD: SPS/07