Denise Bane asked about teaching organizational structures --
I just took a course last quarter at the College of St. Catherine in St.
Paul on this topic. The instructor used a series of books to provoke
dialogue in the classroom and to serve as the fodder for several papers.
Let's see ... the books included
Player Piano by Vonnegut -- the paternalistic organization
Rivethead by Hamper -- anarchic 'organizations'
The Rage of the Middle Class by Cose -- discriminatory organizations
Essence of Decision by Allison -- on the interpretation of decisions
after-the-fact
The Prince by Machiavelli -- organizational politics at its most raw
The End of Work by RIfkin -- organizations without jobs
Cleaning Up by Lebedoff -- on organizational culpability for employee
mistakes
and another one or two.
For my money, the most difficult and probably the most useful was the
Allison book. He offers three models for interpreting the 'facts' of the
Cuban Missile Crisis based on just what 'facts' you have available and your
own predispositions. Of course, there were a few students in this class
whose first response was, 'What Cuban missile crisis?' It's hard to get
old -- that crisis happened when I was in high school.
(A token quote on 'facts': Facts do not speak for themselves, for if they
did, humans would find it easy to agree. Meanings, implications,
significances, and portents are wrested from the flow of events, wrested by
men and women who have a felt stake in how things are unfolding. Peter B.
Vaill)
You can get hold of the instructor, Lee Ann Osbun, at
losbun@aol.com. She
has a one-page handout on the book she might send you.
If you get individual responses such as this and collect them for the list,
that would be appreciated.
Michael A
--
Michael Ayers
mailto:
mbayers@mmm.com Voice (612) 733-5690 FAX (612) 737-7718
IT Educ & Perf Svcs\3M Center 224-2NE-02\PO Box 33224
St Paul MN 55133-3224
"Sometimes the right question is, 'Are we asking the right question?'"
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