Dr Lourdes Sosa MAR 5.40

This course is compulsory on the MSc in Human Resources and Organisations (Organisational Behaviour). This course is available on the MRes/PhD in Management (Employment Relations and Human Resources) and MSc in Human Resources and Organisations (International Employment Relations/CIPD). This course is available with permission as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit.

This course may be capped/subject to controlled access. For further information about the course's availability, please see the MG Elective Course Selection Moodle page (https://moodle.lse.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=3840).

Structure drives behaviour. That is the principle that this course is designed to introduce. When an employee responds to the proposal of a change to their job content as “you are setting me up for failure”, that is often what they mean – managers can alter the structure around employees and in doing so, alter an employee’s success at work. We therefore need to carefully design structure, and we will do so with the perspective of rational change in mind. The course advances in two large complementary portions: the first weeks introduce the problem space, that is, the mechanisms that link structure to employee behaviour; the last weeks focus on the solution space, that is, the design of interventions to optimise the structure-behaviour link in organisations.

15 hours of lectures and 15 hours of seminars in the AT. 1 hour and 30 minutes of lectures in the ST.

Students on this course will have a reading week in Week 6, in line with departmental policy.

In its Ethics Code, LSE upholds a commitment to intellectual freedom. This means we will protect the freedom of expression of our students and staff and the right to engage in healthy debate in the classroom.

Students will complete a formative assessment. Details will be provided in class.

Hannan, M.T., & Freeman, J. (1984). Structural Inertia and Organizational Change. American Sociological Review. 49(2): 149-164.

Puranam, P., O. Alexy, & Reitzig, M. (2014). What’s “New” About New Forms of Organizing? Academy of Management Review. 39(2): 162-180.

Exam (50%, duration: 2 hours) in the spring exam period.
Class participation (10%) and group essay (40%) in the AT.