GENERAL
| SCHOOL | School of Economics and Political Science |
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| DEPARTMENT | Sociology |
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| Level of Study | Undergraduate |
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| COURSE CODE | 431085 |
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| COURSE TITLE | Sociology of organisations (S) |
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| Independent Teaching Activities |
Weekly Teaching Hours |
CREDIT UNITS |
| Lectures - assignments |
3 |
6 |
| TOTAL |
3 |
6 |
| Course Type | Special Background |
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| Prerequisite Courses | No |
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| Teaching and Examination Language | Greek |
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| THE COURSE IS OFFERED TO ERASMUS STUDENTS | No |
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| Course Webpage (URL) | |
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(2) LEARNING OUTCOMES
Upon completion of the course, students are expected to be able to:
- understand the role of organizations in social formation and reproduction,
- understand the basic theoretical approaches to the relationship between organizations and society
- understand the importance of organizations in the field of state administration
- understand the principles governing every administration and especially «scientific management» and
- reflect on the role of organizations given the momentum presented by issues within the context of today's globalized world.
General Capabilities
- Cultivation of reflective thought and critical thinking,
- Understanding the need for an interdisciplinary approach to comprehending the thematic topics of the course on the structure and functions of organizations in both the public and private sectors.
- Encouragement to produce new research ideas, something that already became evident from the students' interventions in the final classes of the semester.
(3) COURSE CONTENT
The course focuses on the study of organizations as social structures, analyzing their function, structure, and dynamics. It examines theoretical models and approaches concerning behavior within organizations, decision-making, leadership, and communication. Furthermore, it explores power relations, conflicts, and change processes within organizational frameworks, offering tools for understanding and analyzing contemporary organizational phenomena.
More specifically, the course starts from the observation that we live in societies which cannot but be approached without their organizations, something that forces us to discuss their role and function. This fact obliges us to examine the basic characteristics of the latter and the relevant classification as it emerges from the international literature. As the relevant international literature is particularly extensive and our time limited, we will discuss the basic characteristics of classical sociological approaches (Weber, Marx, Durkheim), which are complemented by the significance of primarily metaphorical descriptions of organizations. The discussion on the characteristics of social organizations and, above all, the critical presentation of «scientific management» aims to show that the sociology of organizations constitutes an important dimension of the field of organization management in both the public and private sectors. The course concludes with a summary of the conclusions and an attempt to prompt reflection on the role of organizations in our era, where our world is globalizing at a rapid pace.
(4) TEACHING & LEARNING METHODS – EVALUATION
| DELIVERY METHOD | Face to face |
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| Information and Communication Technologies |
- Open lectures where student participation is strongly encouraged through numerous references and examples from both history and current affairs.
- Meetings with student groups in the form of informal tutorials.
- Support of the learning process through the e-class electronic platform
|
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| Activity |
Semester Workload |
| Lectures |
39 |
| Standalone Study |
108 |
| Participation in exams |
3 |
| Course Summary |
150 |
Student Evaluation
| Process Description Evaluation |
- Attendance and Participation (~20%)
- Final Exam (~80%). Includes: A critical and comparative evaluation of the methodological approaches and theoretical dimensions of the course subject matter.
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(5) RECOMMENDED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Suggested Bibliography
- Makrydimitris Antonis, Approaches to Organization Theory, Athens, Sakkoulas SA Publ., 2013.
- Morgan Gareth, Images of Organization. Introduction to Organization Theory. Athens, Kastaniotis Ed., 2000.
Related Scientific Journals
- Administrative Science Review
