UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT DALLAS COURSE OUTLINE

School of Management Fall 2006

OB 6303 - MANAGING ORGANIZATIONS

Richard Harrison

Course Objectives: This course will address major theoretical perspectives relevant to the
effective management of organizations and their practical applications. Topics include
organizational power and control, structural change, relationships with other organizations, and
industry behavior. Implications for current organizational events will also be considered.

Required Books:
Carroll, Glenn R., and Michael T. Hannan. Organizations in Industry: Strategy, Structure and
Selection. Oxford, 1995.
Vlasic, Bill, and Bradley A. Stertz. Taken for a Ride. Morrow, 2000.

Course Structure: Topics will be considered in the order presented in the reading list. In
addition, we will discuss chapters from the Carroll and Hannan book, which provides detailed
organizational information on a variety of industries. The Vlasic and Stertz book examines a
major merger in the auto industry. Class members will be expected to participate actively in class
discussions.

Assignments: In addition to the readings, each class member will write a term paper and
participate in a group paper and presentation to the class. The group paper and presentation
should address the history, current conditions, and future of an industry (e.g., one addressed in
the Carroll and Hannan book). Your term paper should be on a topic of academic or professional
interest, should emphasize the use of course material, and should focus on an organization
associated with the industry addressed by your group (e.g., an industry member, major supplier
to the industry, industry regulatory body, or industry trade association). Yhere will also be take-
home midterm and final examinations.

Grading: Midterm examination 20%

Group paper 15%
Group presentation 10%
Term paper 30%
Final examination 25%

Office Hours Mondays, 6:00-7:00pm, and by appointment. Office: SOM 4.214

Contact: 972-883-2569; 972-883-6521 (fax); harrison@utdallas.edu.

Academic Honesty: Work submitted for credit (exams and papers) should be the work of the
class member alone (with the exception of group assignments). For individual assignments, class
members may consult library materials, web resources, and other informational sources, but may
not receive the assistance of others in writing exams and papers. Cheating, plagiarism, collusion,
and falsifying academic records are expressly prohibited (see the course schedule and catalogue).
 OB 6303 - REQUIRED READINGS

BACKGROUND

Daft, Richard L., "Functional, Product, and Matrix Structures." Chapter 6 from Organization
Theory and Design (St. Paul: West, 1989).

ECOLOGICAL THEORY

George, Cherian, “Change, Easier Said than Done.” Stanford Business, 70:4 (2002): 20-25.

Carroll, Glenn R., Stanislav Dobrev, and Anand Swaminathan, “Organizational Processes of
Resource Partitioning.” Research in Organizational Behavior, 24 (2002): 1-40.

RESOURCE DEPENDENCE THEORY

Pfeffer, Jeffrey, "Beyond Management and the Worker: The Institutional Function of
Management." Academy of Management Review, 1 (1976): 36-47.

INSTITUTIONAL THEORY

Meyer, John W., and Brian Rowan, "Institutionalized Organizations: Formal Structure as Myth
and Ceremony." American Journal of Sociology, 83 (1977): 340-363.

DiMaggio, Paul J., and Walter W. Powell, "The Iron Cage Revisited: Institutional Isomorphism
and Collective Rationality in Organizational Fields." American Sociological Review, 48
(1983): 147-160.

Oliver, Christine, "Strategic Responses to Institutional Processes." Academy of Management

Review, 16 (1991): 145-179.

TRANSACTION COST THEORY

Williamson, Oliver E., Chapters 1 and 2 from The Economic Institutions of Capitalism (New
York: Free Press, 1985).

David, Robert J., and Shin-Kap Han. 2004. “A Systematic Assessment of the Empirical Support
for Transaction Cost Economics.” Strategic Management Journal, 25: 39-58.

IMPLICATIONS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT

Scott, W. Richard, Pp. 194-216 from Organizations: Rational, Natural, and Open Systems (Fifth
Edition) (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2002).
TECHNOLOGY

Scott, W. Richard, Pp. 227-239 from Organizations: Rational, Natural, and Open Systems (Fifth
Edition) (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2002).

Tushman, Michael L., and Phillip Anderson, "Technological Discontinuities and Organizational
Environments." Administrative Science Quarterly, 31 (1986): 439-465.

AGENCY THEORY

Manne, Henry G., "Mergers and the Market for Corporate Control." Journal of Political
Economy, 73 (1965): 110-120.

Eisenhardt, Kathleen M., "Agency Theory: An Assessment and Review." Academy of

Management Review, 14 (1989): 57-74.

POLITICAL THEORY

Salancik, Gerald R., and Jeffrey Pfeffer, "Who Gets Power--And How They Hold Onto It: A
Strategic-Contingency Model of Power." Organizational Dynamics, 5 (1977): 3-21.

Fligstein, Neil, "The Intraorganizational Power Struggle: Rise of Finance Personnel to Top
Leadership in Large Corporations, 1919-1979." American Sociological Review, 52
(1987): 44-58.

Harrison, J. Richard, "The Strategic Use of Corporate Board Committees." California

Management Review, 30 (1987): 109-125.

Westphal, James D., and Edward J. Zajac, "The Symbolic Management of Stockholders:
Corporate Governance Reforms and Shareholder Reactions." Administrative Science
Quarterly, 43 (1998): 127-153.

Ocasio, William, and Hyosun Kim, “The Circulation of Corporate Control: Selection of
Functional Backgrounds of New CEOs in Large U.S. Manufacturing Firms, 1981-1992.
Administrative Science Quarterly, 44 (1999): 532-562.

INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVES

Ghoshal, Sumantra, and Christopher A. Bartlett, "The Multinational Corporation as an

Interorganizational Network." Academy of Management Review, 15 (1990): 603-625.

Salk, Jane E., and Mary Yoko Brannen, “National Culture, Networks and Individual Influence in
a Multinational Management Team.” Academy of Management Journal, 43 (2000): 191-
202.