TY - JOUR AU - Caronna, Carol PY - 2010/04/26 Y2 - 2024/03/18 TI - Sociology 365: Organizations and Society JF - TRAILS: Teaching Resources and Innovations Library for Sociology JA - TRAILS VL - IS - SE - DO - UR - https://trails.asanet.org/article/view/sociology-365-organizations-and-society SP - AB - This course provides an overview of the field of organizational theory and research, with a specific focus on sociological contributions to the study of organizations. Questions we will explore include: what defines an organization, and why do organizations have so much influence over modern life? How are organizations formed, and why do so many have similar characteristics, structures, and strategies? In what environments are organizations embedded, and how do organizations and environments evolve over time? The main focus of the course is the various theories proposed by organizational scholars, with additional emphasis on organizational research. We also will consider the relevance of the theories in real world situations, applied to the Oakland A’s baseball organization (described in Moneyball) and Towson University. The course assignments are designed to help you "interact" with the theories in two ways: collecting evidence of the application of the theories at TU, and critically analyzing the theories’ explanatory power. By the end of the course, you should have a sharpened ability to understand, apply, and analyze theories and models of organizations, and an understanding of how these theories help explain your own experiences as organizational members, leaders, customers, observers, and so forth. ER -