INDIAN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT BANGALORE
PGP 2009 – 2011, Term 1
Course Title
: Managing Organizations
Faculty Instructor
: Prof. Abhoy Ojha (Section A)
Prof. Sourav Mukherji (Section C)
Prof. Mukta Kulkarni (Section D)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Course Objectives:
This course introduces students to concepts associated with organization design. While
organizations are ubiquitous and influence all aspects of contemporary life, this course explains
the rationale behind their existence and the various designs that organizations can adopt to
achieve their strategic objectives. The course will provide students with an analytical framework
for understanding the impact of several factors such as the business environment, operational
technology, rate and amount of growth, and business strategy on the design of organizations.
Overall, this course provides potential managers with an understanding of the levers of
organizational structure, processes and culture that they can control in order to achieve the
objectives of business.
Teaching Methods:
While management of organizations is intensely practical and application oriented, the objective
of the course is to explicate the theoretical foundations underneath such applications. Therefore,
modes of instruction will be a mixture of lectures, case studies, and project work. The classes are
expected to be interactive where the knowledge embedded in cases or lectures is enlivened
through debates and discussions. Students are expected to take active part in class discussions
because in a course like this, the quality of learning is significantly more in interactive classrooms
when compared to individualistic self-studies.
Study Material and Syllabus:
The prescribed textbook for this course is Organization Theory, Change and Design by Richard L
Daft, 8th Edition. Supplementary reading material has been provided for most of the modules.
Students are expected to study all reading material that is mentioned as readings for a specific
topic or module. The course packet contains most of the cases and supplementary reading
material. Additional readings may be suggested in class. A softcopy of presentation slides used in
class will be shared after completion of the topic or module.
Performance Assessment:
Performance will be judged based on the following components –

In-class activities: In-class activities will comprise any or all of the following: quizzes,
class participation, lecture notes, and/or assignments. ‘N’ in-class quizzes will be
conducted during the course. N-1 quiz scores will be considered for final grading.
Quizzes will contain multiple choice questions and/or short answers, and will cover
material discussed in class unto that day. Since grade points for N-1 quizzes will be
considered for final evaluation, there will be no make-up quizzes if you miss class.
Quizzes may be open or closed book.

Examinations: Mid term and end term examinations will comprise multiple-choice
questions and questions requiring descriptive answers. Multiple choice questions will
have negative marks for wrong answers. Descriptive answers will have to be
accommodated within provided space. Examinations are not open book. They are
designed to test your analytical and conceptual skills along with your understanding of
definitions mentioned in the readings. There are no make-up exams.

Team project: A key requirement of this course is a team project. It will enable students
to understand, in detail, the structure, practices, and processes of a real life organization.
Students are expected to form groups and select an organization that they would like to
study. Group size will be announced in class. Alternatively, the faculty instructor may ask
the PGP office to form groups. Since data about internal structure, practices, and
processes of an organization is not usually available in the public domain, this project
will involve fieldwork and collection of primary data through interviews and discussions
with organizational members. Therefore, it is advisable that at least one or some of the
team members have access to employees of the chosen organization who can provide the
necessary information to the team. Please try to choose organizations that are located in
Bangalore so that the team can visit the organization to understand its operations, and
conduct interviews with employees. Specific guidelines for the project will be given to
you in a separate document.
Formal peer evaluations may be given to assess individual student’s contribution to the team
project. The results of these evaluations will be used along with other measures to determine
each team member’s overall project grade. This means that you may receive a lower or higher
grade than your group members – so make sure you are not a free-rider or excessively directive –
it will cost you points.
Team project steps:




Form teams: Teams should let the instructor know the names of their members and the
name/details of the chosen organization in class on or before the third session. Teams will
be assigned numbers that will determine their sequence of presentation at the end of the
term.
Submit an interim report: The purpose of the interim report is to enable students to
structure their time and tasks. The interim report is due in class on or before the eleventh
session. This report should outline your final report. This submission will not be graded.
Presentation of project: Each team is required to present its work on the selected
organization in class as per the given schedule. Each presentation will be last for 15
minutes followed by 5 minutes for questions and discussion. All teams should submit
their presentations to the faculty instructor before the first team is scheduled to make its
presentation.
Submit final report and presentation: The final repost is expected to be of professional
quality. Sources of all data used in the report should be acknowledged explicitly with
footnotes/endnotes and a complete list of references. The final report should not exceed
20 pages in length (including title page, references, tables, and any other pages). Credit
will be given for proper application of concepts and frameworks taught in the course.
However, force fitting of concepts taught in class and mere description of events will be
discredited. The final report is due on or before September 9, 2009 in the PGP Office.
The final report will be graded.
Grading Scheme:
Component
In-class Activities+
Mid Term Examination
End Term Examination
Team Project*
TOTAL
Weight
25
30
20
25
100
*The breakup of the team project is as follows:
10
Presentation
Final Report
15
+ The nature and marks allocation of in-class activities will be provided by the respective faculty
instructors
Class Schedule:
Session
1
2
3-4
5
6-7
Topic
Readings/Cases
Introduction to
 Daft chapter 1
organizations
 Organigraphs
 Introduction, Imaginization
Environment
 Daft chapter 2
and structure
 Newspaper clippings on impact of environment on
organizations
 Case: The Paradoxical Twins (course packet)
Fundamentals
 Daft chapters 6, 11
of structures
 Do you have a well-designed organization?
 Organization design: Fashion or fit?
 Informal networks
 The multiunit enterprise
 Case: C& C Grocery Stores, Inc. (Daft, Page 230)
 Case: 3M (course packet)
Structural
 Daft chapter 13
evolution
 Evolution and revolution as organizations grow
 Case: Appex Corporation (course packet)
Organization
 Daft chapters 4,5
strategy and
 The power of reframing
structure;
 Designing a global structure
multinational
 Organizing for worldwide effectiveness
organizations
 Interview with Mr. V K Viswanathan
8
Power,
politics, and
conflict
Organizational
culture




Case: The University Art Museum (Daft, page 188)
Case: Bosch Group in India (course packet)
Daft chapter 10
Case: Merger Management (course packet)
 Daft chapter 7
 Coming to a new awareness of organizational culture
 What holds the modern company together?
 The tortuous evolution of a multinational corporation
 Video: In search of excellence
 Case: Google in Transition (course packet)
MID TERM EXAM – AUGUST 5th: Starting at 1430 hrs.
11
Organizational
 Daft chapter 12
control
 Control in an age of empowerment
 (Some sections from) Behavior in organizations
 Case: Mrs. Fields’ Cookies Inc. (course packet)
12-13
Learning
 Building a learning organization
organizations
 Knowledge intensive firms
 What is your strategy for managing knowledge?
 Case: Knowledge management in Wipro Technologies
(course packet)
 Guest speaker session
14
Organizational
 Daft chapter 8
change
 What is organizational change?
 On a wing and a prayer, Jet’s bet
 Leading change: Why transformation efforts fail?
 Home Depot’s blueprint for culture change
15
Organizational
 Daft chapter 9
decision How management teams can have a good fight?
making
 The seasoned executive’s decision making styles.
 Case: DC 10 (course packet)
16
Organizational
 Leveraging Intellect
forms for the
 Out of this world
future
 Video: The Caring Capitalist
17
Project
Groups 1-4
presentations
18
Project
Groups 5-8
presentations
19
Project
Groups 9-12
presentations
20
Project
Groups 13-15
presentations
END TERM EXAM – SEPTEMBER 12th: Starting at 1430 hrs.
9-10