Sociology of Organisations
Code: 101152 ECTS Credits: 6| Degree | Type | Year | Semester |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2500262 Sociology | OT | 4 | 2 |
Contact
- Name:
- Oriol Barranco Font
- Email:
- oriol.barranco@uab.cat
Use of Languages
- Principal working language:
- catalan (cat)
- Some groups entirely in English:
- No
- Some groups entirely in Catalan:
- Yes
- Some groups entirely in Spanish:
- No
Prerequisites
It is recommended to have taken the course Sociology of Work. In general, it assumes a basic knowledge of the classics of Sociology and sociological currents of the main current.
Objectives and Contextualisation
The subject aims to show the lines of action that companies now follow today, both in their productive aspects of goods and services, as well as in the mechanisms of work organization and work management. It also intends to link this action with the theoretical perspectives on organization that give the company meaning in the mentioned actions. With this, we want to cover the objective of knowing the theoretical foundations that support the analysis of changes in the business and work world, and in particular present data and experiences to contrast these analyzes with the reality of activities and the strategies of the companies.
More specifically, the purpose of the subject is:
- Show the main concepts of use for sociology in the analysis of organizations and companies.
- Know the different sociological approaches to the analysis of the company.
- Analyze the main changes and current trends regarding the processes of restructuring the company as an organization, as well as the framework that conditions its performance.
- Know the current business trends regarding the organization of work and the management of human resources.
- Acquire knowledge and use the main sources of information regarding the contents of the subject.
- Contextualize business activity
- Apply this knowledge to the critical and rigorous analysis of companies
- Have the basic tools to intervene in the business field (human resources management and labor relations, especially)
- Have the basic skills that allow for autonomous and cooperative work
Competences
- Applying the concepts and approaches of the sociological theory, specially the explanations of social inequalities between classes, between genders and between ethnic groups, to the implementation of public policies and to the resolution of conflict situations.
- Assessing the contributions of sociological approaches to the study of culture, education, interaction between society and environment, social policy, and work.
- Demonstrating a comprehension of the approaches of the sociological theory in its different aspects, interpretations and historical context.
- Describing social phenomena in a theoretically relevant way, bearing in mind the complexity of the involved factors, its causes and its effects.
- Developing critical thinking and reasoning and communicating them effectively both in your own and other languages.
- Developing self-learning strategies.
- Respecting the diversity and plurality of ideas, people and situations.
- Students must be capable of managing their own time, planning their own study, managing the relationship with their tutor or adviser, as well as setting and meeting deadlines for a work project.
Learning Outcomes
- Comparing the meanings of several theoretical approaches about labour, employment and industrial relations.
- Comparing the reading of labour, employment and industrial relations from several ideologies of the social reality of Spain and Catalonia.
- Defining the sociological concepts that interpret labour, employment and industrial relations.
- Developing critical thinking and reasoning and communicating them effectively both in your own and other languages.
- Developing self-learning strategies.
- Distinguishing sociological concepts, as well as the methods and techniques of social investigation commonly used to analyse labour.
- Distinguishing the underlying relationships of employment, labour and collective bargaining of specific policies or conflicts.
- Expressing the debates regarding these approaches, that refer to labour.
- Identifying the social interpretations of work according with these approaches.
- Identifying the underlying social phenomena of labour policies and conflicts.
- Relating the concepts, methods and techniques used to analyse labour with general theoretical and methodological debates.
- Relating the debates regarding these approaches, that refer to labour, with the historical context in which they emerged.
- Relating them with the debates about capitalism, power and inequality.
- Respecting the diversity and plurality of ideas, people and situations.
- Students must be capable of managing their own time, planning their own study, managing the relationship with their tutor or adviser, as well as setting and meeting deadlines for a work project.
Content
I. SOCIOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF THE COMPANIES ORGANIZATIONS.
- The sociological analysis of organizations. Industrial Sociology and Sociology of the Companies and Organizations.
- The company as an organization and social institution.
- The company as an open system. Main elements of the environment and impact on the company.
- The analysis of social relations in the company: consensus and conflict in labor relations.
II. THE CURRENT BUSINESS STRATEGIES BEFORE THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE ENVIRONMENT.
- The process of division of labor. The specialization of tasks: from the industrial revolution to the scientific work organization (OCT) -taylorisme- and fordisme.
- The process of bureaucratization
- Crisis of the Taylorist-Fordist model: causes and effects on business activity.
- Recomposition of the productive process: technological innovation and flexibility strategies.
- Forms of flexibility in the production and use of labor: internal flexibility and external flexibility.
III. THE PRODUCTIVE STRATEGIES. NEW METHODS OF PRODUCTION AND ORGANIZATION OF THE COMPANIES
-Technical search of flexibility and the transformations in work and the organization of the companies.
-New business strategies and new methods of production. Productive decentralization and rediscovery of the small business. Outsourcing and relocation of production. Strategies of networks, industrial districts and division of labor between companies.
-Flexible specialization and toyotisme ("lean production"): business paradigms alternative to Fordism?
-New Public Mangement
IV. BUSINESS STRATEGIES AND NEW WORKING AND MANAGEMENT ORGANIZATION FORMS OF LABOR
- New forms of organization of work: extension and enrichment of tasks, functional mobility, group work, etc. Experiences and limits.
- New forms of manpower management.The "organic" model and the revaluation of human resources.
- Quality, technological innovation and involvement at work. Quality circles
- Productive and organizational changes and new qualification needs at work.
V. THEORETICAL SUPPORT OF CHANGES IN ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT: PERSPECTIVES ON ORGANIZATION AND COMPANY
- The "Scientific Labor Organization" as a support of the "mechanic" Taylorist-Fordist model.
- The school of "Human Relations": criticism or complement to Taylorism ?. The formal and informal aspect of the organization.
- The models of motivation at work.
-The supports of the "organic" model: The socio-technical perspective. The new management and participation in the company.
VI (CONCLUSIONS).
Methodology
The objectives of the subject will be reached from the combination of the theoretical sessions with work methodologies that imply the active participation of the students. It is about promoting autonomous learning, teamwork, critical reasoning, as well as the ability to define and solve problems that have to do with organizational and labor dynamics in companies.
The theoretical sessions are combined with the presentation and discussion of the texts provided in the Dossier of readings, as well as the follow-up of the group work and the final presentation of said work.
Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.
Activities
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type: Directed | |||
| Class discussion | 9 | 0.36 | 8, 12 |
| Individual and Collective Tutorials | 12 | 0.48 | 5, 6 |
| Presentations Student | 7 | 0.28 | 2, 4, 9, 12 |
| Presentations Teaching | 24 | 0.96 | |
| Work in group | 5 | 0.2 | |
| Type: Supervised | |||
| Documentation and Bibliography | 5 | 0.2 | 1, 11, 12 |
| Work in group | 15 | 0.6 | 5, 15, 11 |
| Type: Autonomous | |||
| Analysis of case study Work in group | 25 | 1 | 4, 7, 15, 11 |
| Personal study | 23 | 0.92 | |
| Search for information | 25 | 1 | 5, 15, 10 |
Assessment
The assessment responds to the mode of continuous, individual and group assessment
I) Group evaluation
The group assessment aims to capture the ability to work in workteams, apply to the reality of a company or organization the theoretical concepts, as well as the capacity for synthesis in oral and written expression. During the course there will be a practical work (in groups of up to 3 people), on the field of the company. Its represents the 50% on the final note. The work will be presented in the last class sessions and will be delivered in writing on the last day of class.
Work will not be accepted out of time.
II) Continuous and individual evaluation
30% of the final mark is derived from the individual continuous assessment, carried out from the active participation in the classes and from the exhibitions and discussion of the texts in the reader's dossier.
20% of the final mark comes from an individual written test (exam). It will be necessary to reach a minimum of 3.5 out of 10 in this test in order to pass the subject
Those students who have not submitted any of the assessment, either in their individual or group mode, will be considered not presented
RECOVERY.
A failed group work will be possible to recover it until the recovery date set by the Faculty. Likewise, on this date, a new test will be carried out for people who have not obtained the minimum grade required in the previous exam.
In accordance with article 117.2 of the UAB Academic Regulations, the evaluation of those students who have been enroled before may consist of a single synthesis examination. The students who wish to be evaluated this way should contact the professor at the beginning of the semester.
Assessment Activities
| Title | Weighting | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Individual Exam | 20% | 0 | 0 | 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 10, 9, 13 |
| Participation in Class | 10% | 0 | 0 | 2, 7, 8, 10, 9, 14 |
| Presentation and Discussion Texts | 20% | 0 | 0 | 1, 3, 4, 12, 13 |
| Work in group | 50% | 0 | 0 | 5, 4, 6, 15, 10, 11 |
Bibliography
References
A dossier of compulsory readings will be available. In the program facilitated to the students details the specific bibliography for each items of the subject, in which are included the following references:
TEMA I.
-BONAZZI, G. (1994), Historia del penoamiento organizativo, Vic, Eumo.
-EDWARDS, P.K. (1990): El conflicto en el trabajo. Un análisis materialista de las relaciones laborales en la empresa, Madrid, Ministerio de Trabajo.
-HYMAN, R. (1981): Relaciones industriales, Madrid, Blume.
-INFESTAS, A. (2013), Sociología de la Empresa, Pamplona, Amaru.
-LAHIRE, B. Y OTROS (2005): Lo que el trabajo esconde. Materiales para un replanteamiento del análisis sobre el trabajo, Madrid, Ed. Traficantes de sueños.
-LUCAS; A. (coord.) (2013), Sociología en las organizaciones: influencia de las Tecnologías de la Información y la Comunicación, Madrid, Fragua.
-PERROW, CH. (1990), Sociología de las Organizaciones, Madrid, McGraw Hill.
-RODRÍGUEZ, O. (2011), “Historia del manageralismo en España”, en González, M. et.al. (coords.), op.cit..
-ALONSO, L.E. (2008): “Las lógicas de acción. Por un estudio sociohistórico de la vida organizacional”, en FERNÁNDEZ RODRIGUEZ, C.J. (2008), Vigilar y organizar. Una introducción a los Critical Management Studies, Madrid, Siglo XXI.
TEMA II.
-BURAWOY, M. (1989): El consentimiento en la producción. Los cambios en el proceso productivo en el capitalismo monopolista. Madrid: MTSS
-BENEYTO, P.J., TORRE, I. i NOVA, P. (2013), Trabajo y empresa, Valencia, Tirant Lo Blanc
-BRADLEY, H. i altres (2002), Myths at work Cambridge-Oxford, Polity Press & Blackwell
-CARNOY, M. (2001): El trabajo flexible en la era de la información, Madrid, Alianza.
-CORIAT, B. (1983): El taller y el cronómetro, Madrid, Siglo XXI.
-FINKEL, L. (2001), La organización social del Trabajo, Madrid,Pirámide.
-FODEN, D. i JONES, R. (dirs.) (1997): Jobs first: Trade unions and the modernisation of the labour market, Bruxelles, ISE.
-GRUP D’ESTUDIS SOCIOLÒGICS SOBRE LA VIDA QUOTIDIANA I EL TREBALL (“QUIT”) (1997), Economía, Trabajo y Empresa, Madrid, Consejo Económico y Social
-HUTCHINSON, S. i BREWSTER, CH. (1995): Flexibilidad en el trabajo. Estrategias y prácticas en Europa, Barcelona, Gestión 2000-AEDIPE.
-KERN, H. i SCHUMANN, M. (1989): El fin de la división del trabajo, Madrid, Ministerio de Trabajo.
-RITZER, G. (1996), La MacDonzalicación de la Sociedad, Barcelona, Laia.
-ROY, D. (1953). Work satisfaction and social reward in quota achievement. American Sociological Review, 18, 507-514.
-RUUD, J. i MUFFELS, A. (eds.) (2008), Flexibility and Employment Security in Europe. Labour Markets in Transition,Cheltenham, Edward Elgar,
TEMA III.
-AAVV (1991): "¿Neofordismo o especialización flexible?", a Sociología del Trabajo (monogràfic, extra).
-AAVV (2016): "¿Una nueva revolución industrial? Economía digital y trabajo, a Gaceta Sindical, monogràfic nº 27.
-ALONSO, L.E. i FERNÁNDEZ, C.J. (2011), “El debate sobre la flexibilidad laboral”, en González, M. et.al. (coords.), op.cit.
-ARNTZ, M., GREGORY, T. i ZIERHAN, U. (2016), The Risk of Automation for Jobs in OECD Countries, A Comparative Analysis, aOECD Social Emplyment and Migration Workin Papers nº 189, París, OECD Publishing.
-CORIAT, B. (1994): Pensar al revés: trabajo y organización en la empresa japones
-BOYER, R.y FREYSSENET, M.(2003):Los modelos productivos,Madrid, Fundamentos.
-FREY, C.B. i OSBORNE, A. (2013), Thee fyture of emplument: How susceptible are jobs to computerisation,Oxford, Oxford University.
-HERNÁNDEZ,J.M. (dir.) (2018), L'impacte laboral de la indústria 4.0 a Catalunya, Barcelona, Departament d'Empresa i Coeixement, Generalitat de Catalunya.
-LOPE, A. (dir.) i Moles, B. (2019), Perfils professionals i necessitats de formació per a l'economia circular a la indústria, Departament d'Empresa i Coneixement, Generalitat de Catalunya.
-LOPE, A. (1996): Innovación tecnològica y cualificación: la polarización de las cualificaciones en la empresa, Madrid, Consejo Económico y Social.
-MIGUËLEZ, F. (dir.) (2018), La revolución digital en España. Impacto y Retos sobre el Mercado de Trabajo y el Bienestar, QUIT, https://ddd.uab.cat/record/190329
-OHNO, T. (1991): El sistema de producción Toyota, Barcelona, Gestión 2.000.
-PIORE, M. i SABEL, CH. (1990): La segunda ruptura industrial, Madrid, Alianza.
-PRIETO, C. (2013), "Las políticas de empleo en el marco de la metamorfosis de la norma social de empleo", a Clivatge Revista Digital nº 2
-RIFKIN, J. (1996): El fin del trabajo, Barcelona, Paidos.
TEMA IV.
-BARRANCO, O. (2007). Condiciones de trabajo de las proletarias y proletarios de la gran distribución
comercial. In X. Montagut, E. Vivas (eds.), Supermercados No, gracias (pp. 71-83). Barcelona: Icaria.
-BARRANCO, O. (2011): “El papel del perfil social en el consentimiento y las resistencias laborales”. Sociología del Trabajo, 71: 26-44.
-BARRANCO, O. (2019): “Barcodes, motricity and aesthetics. The embodiment of cashier work”. Revista Española de Sociología, 28 (3, supl. 2), 99-117.
-BEAUD, S. Y PIALOUX, M. (2015). Repensar la condiciónn obrera. Investigación en las fábricas de Peugeot de
Sochaux-Monbeliard. Buenos Aires: Antropofagia. [edición original francesa: (1999). Retour sur la condition
ouvriere. Paris: Fayard]. https://lostrabajadoresenargentina.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/beaud-y-pialoux-2015-repensar-la-condicic3b3n-obrera
-BOLTANSKI, L. y CHIAPELLO, E. (2002), El nuevo espíritu del capitalismo, Madrid, Akal.
-CASASASS, D. (coord. 2016), Revertir el guión. Trabajos, derechos y libertad, Barcelona, La Catarata.
-FERNÁNDEZ RODRIGUEZ, C.J. (2008), Vigilar y organizar. Una introducción a los Critical Management Studies, Madrid, Siglo XXI.
-BANYULS,J., CANO, E., PITXER,J.V. i SÄNCHEZ, A. (2005), Economía laboral i polítiques d'ocupació, València, Universitat de València.
-CASTILLO, J.J. (comp.) (1988): <spanstyle="text-decoration: underline;">Las nuevas formas de organización del trabajo, Madrid, Ministerio de Trabajo.
-CORIAT, B. (1993): El taller y el robot, Madrid, Siglo XXI.
-GRUP D’ESTUDIS SOCIOLOGICS SOBRE LA VIDA QÚOTIDIANA I EL TREBALL (“QUIT”) (2000): ¿Sirve la formación para el empleo?, Madrid, Consejo Económico y Social.
-LOPE, A. (1996): op.cit.
-LOPE, A. i ALOS, R. (1999): "La acción sindical en la empresa: entre el desconcierto y la reacción", a Miguélez,F. i Prieto, C. (dirs.), Las relaciones de empleo en España, Madrid, Siglo XXI.
-TIRADO, A. i ROMERO, R. (2016), Laclase obrera no va al paraiso: Crónica de una desaparición forzada, Madrid, Akal.
-ULRICH, D.; LOSEY, M.R. i LAKE, G. (1998): El futuro de la Dirección de Recursos Humanos, Barcelona, Gestión 2000-AEDIPE.
TEMA V.
-AMBLARD, H. i altres (1996): Les nouvelles approches sociologiques des organisations, París, Seuil.
-BONAZZI, G. (1994): Historia del pensament organitzatiu, Vic, Eumo.
-CASTEL, R. (2009), La montée desincertitudes: travail, protections, estatut de l’individu, París, Ed. Du seuil.
-DRUCKER, P. (2016), Essential Writtings on Management, New York, Harper.
-GONZÁLEZ, M. et. al. (coords.) (2014), Gestión de Recursos Humanos- Contexto y políticas, Pamplona, Cívitas.
-HAKIM, C. (2012), Capital erótico: el poder de fascinación a los demàs, Barcelona, Debate.
-MINTZBERG, H.(1984): La estructuración de las organizaciones, Barcelona, Ariel.
-SYED, J. i KRAMAR, R. (2017), Human Resource Management. A Global and Critical Perspective, London, Palgrave-Macmillan.
-TRIST, E. (1988): "La evolución de los sistemas socio- técnicos", a Castillo, J.J., op. cit.
Software
None