• Rational approach to organization
• Organization Design and Organization Theory
• Competitive contexts and organizational challenges
• Contingency approach
• Organization design and organization architecture
• Changing fabric of organization
• Institutional theory
• Organizational sense-making
• Organizational culture and identity
• Behavioral approach – Positive organizing
• Project organizations

The course is organized in sessions. Each session is generally comprised of two classes that combine theory with practice:

• theory sessions provide overview of key topics using traditional – though interactive – lectures; academic keynote speakers – leading experts of specific topics – will also be involved to set the theoretical scene of real organisational issues;

• practice sessions are focused on the discussion of relevant studies or cases: students will be challenged to apply principles, concepts, and frameworks to real organisational challenges and / or they will be exposed to live cases – i.e.industry keynote speakers will share their real life experiences with them and explain challenges faced and implemented solutions.

The class discussion is going to be guided by the inputs provided by students through their active involvement, by which we mean that for each session (but the first one), students are expected to:

1. Before each session, study the material – usually one paper and / or case studies – suggested in the reading list;

2. During the session, actively discuss other students’ presentations and papers.

This teaching approach is due to two related factors: (a) it is hard to teach an applied subject since it requires a certain amount of contextualization to specific organizations, sectors, or  countries; (b) We believe in the old saying “tell me and I will forget, show me and I will remember, involve me and I will understand” (Confucius).