ILROB 3290

Organizational Cultures

Course Description

Course information provided by the Courses of Study 2014-2015.

Reviews the concept of culture as it has evolved in sociology and anthropology, applying it to formal organizations in workplaces such as corporations and unions. The course first examines the nature of ideologies as sense-making definitions of behavior, concentrating on the cultural forms that carry these cultural messages, rituals, symbols, myths, sagas, legends, and organizational stories. Considerable attention is given to rites and ceremonials as a cultural form in organizational life that consolidates many of these expressive forms into one. The course examines types of ceremonial behavior such as rites of passage, rites of enhancement, and rites of degradation, including the role of language gestures, physical settings, and artifacts in ceremonial behavior. The presence of subcultures and countercultures in organizational behavior also receive attention, especially the part played by occupational subcultures in formal organizations. College drinking is examined as an empirical example of culture and its transformation.

When Offered Fall.

Prerequisites/Corequisites Prerequisite: one or more courses in OB and/or sociology.

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