Module: Ecology of Organisations

Aims

• To develop students’ knowledge and understanding of ecological approaches to organisations, the methods and models of organisational dynamics.
• To assist students in understanding typical biases and argumentation fallacies, and advise them how to avoid these mistakes.
• To assist students in understanding the basis of mental models, key intuitions of organisational ecology and make them acquainted with the theory fragments that have been developed so far.
• To develop students’ understanding of the relationships between theory fragments of organisational ecology and other competing theories, such as institutional theory or the theory of industrial organisations.

Content

• Introduction: the ecological approach to organisations vital events.
• Organisational codes. Reproducibility, inertia and identity. Fitness and mortality.
• Age-dependence of the mortality hazard of organisations.
• A cognitive theory of organisations: audiences and producers, fuzzy categories.
• Contrast dependence of the vital rates: founding and disbanding.
• Organisational learning and innovations.
• Propagation strategies, HR blueprints.
• Social dynamics: models and methods.
• Theories of organisational niche.
• Resource partitioning.
• Inertia of organisational niche.
• Contemporary research technologies.

Learning Outcomes

Subject-specific knowledge

• Have an advanced knowledge and understanding of the context and nature of the world of organisations in contemporary societies, an understanding of organisational dynamics in general, and the models and methods appropriate to study them.
• Have an understanding of the problems and issues in researching the ecology of organisations.
• Have an understanding of typical biases and argumentational fallacies, and knowledge of how to avoid these mistakes.
• Have an understanding of the relationships between theory fragments of organisational ecology and other competing theories, such as institutional theory or the theory of industrial organisations.

Subject-specific skills

• Ability to critically evaluate theories of organisations.
• Ability to critically evaluate different research practices.
• Ability to develop appropriate research strategies to address theoretical and practical challenges, in particular:

• the use of archival data;
• developing time series; dealing with missing data point issues, and censoring;
• the ability to use event history analysis to estimate transitions rates, vital rates, Gompertz and Weibul models;
• theory development, non-monotonic reasoning techniques, theory unification.

Key skills

• Ability to make an initial formulation and articulation of a potential scheme of research.
• Ability to understand and resolve the problems and issues in undertaking doctoral research.
• Ability to formulate, articulate and complete a scheme of research at doctoral level.
• Enhanced personal effectiveness.
• Effective written communication.
• Advanced skills of self-awareness and time management.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• The module will be delivered in a workshop format over an intensive three-day teaching block. Workshops will comprise a balanced mix of lecture- and seminar-type delivery combined with small group discussions and other activities as appropriate to the nature of the material. 
• Learning will also occur through tutor-supported, as well as self-supporting learning groups. There will also be online teaching support through a module blog. Finally, guided reading will address key topics. This range of methods will ensure that students will acquire the advanced skills and knowledge to enable them to develop a thorough understanding of this specialist field of study.
• The summative assessment will comprise a 30-minute oral examination and accompanying written assignment, to prepare students for subsequent stages of the programme – ultimately the doctoral thesis/viva.

Summative assessment

Written assignment designed to test students’ knowledge and understanding of the subject matter and their ability to articulate a researchable issue, 5,000 words.

Formative assessment

Individual-based presentations and tutor feedback within workshops; individual 3500-word assignment.