Organizational Processes
About
A portion of a company's organizational chart, showing different people and departments. (Images courtesy of Matthew Palmer, U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Department of Commerce, and U.S. Census Bureau.)
Instructor(s)
Prof. John Van Maanen
Prof. Paul Carlile
Prof. Roberto Fernandez
MIT Course Number
15.311
As Taught In
Fall 2003
Level
Graduate
Course Features
Course Highlights
Organizational Processes, together with related classes 15.328 and 15.280, forms a major part of the first-year MBA experience. This experiential class employs a wide variety of learning tools, from in-class activities to discussion of written cases and readings. Read a description of each session in the thorough calendar.
Course Description
Organizational Processes enhances students' ability to take effective action in complex organizational settings by providing the analytic tools needed to analyze, manage, and lead the organizations of the future. Emphasis is placed on the importance of the organizational context in influencing which individual styles and skills are effective. The subject centers on three complementary perspectives, or "lenses", on an organization: political, cultural, and strategic design. Students enrolled in this class are also jointly enrolled in 15.328, Team Project, in order to complete a field study of an organizational change initiative. Organizational Processes also operates in conjunction with 15.280, Communication for Managers, by sharing certain assignments and holding some joint classes.