Insegnamento a.a. 2019-2020

The course employs the lenses of organization and management theory to analyze organizations of public interest at the international (e.g. UN) and national levels. It explores a series of relevant topics considering different levels of analysis: the public sector in its entirety, networks of organizations, and dynamics at play within single organizations. Among the topics the course covers:

• Organizational design and the main trade-offs in choosing the structure of organizations.
• Organizational mission, strathegy and the environment; issues of stakeholder management (in particular, policy-makers and citizens).
• Organizational effectiveness and performance; challenges and problems in the evaluation of performance of organizations of public interest.
• Organizational culture and its measurement; issues of motivation and accountability.
• Coordination and collaboration between  organizations and within organizations; issues of conflict and power.
• Change and innovation in organizations of public interest.

• Understand the main theoretical underpinnings for explaining how organizations proceed, are structured and managed.
• Explain what factors influence the effectiveness and performance of an organization of public interest.
• Comprehend the peculiarities of organizations of public interest vis a vis firms.

• Diagnose the main strengths and weaknesses of an organization based on its design, culture and strategy.
• Analyse and draft a performance measurement system for an organization of public interest.
• Propose projects of innovation and change for the puprose of improving organizational effectiveness.

• Face-to-face lectures
• Guest speaker's talks (in class or in distance)
• Case studies /Incidents (traditional, online)
• Group assignments
• Interactive class activities (role playing, business game, simulation, online forum, instant polls)

The course combines face-to-face lectures with class discussions of case studies and incidences, simulations, role-playing and group exercises. These classes allow students to:

• Employ theoretical concepts to understand and analyse concrete cases, taken from the reality of organizations of public interest at the international and national levels.
• Acknowledge a plurality of viewpoints and develop argumentations in support to a specific solution.

The course is complemented by guest speakers' talks. Guest speakers bring to class and share with students their concrete experience of processes of performance management, change or coordination. After these classes, the instructor and the students have a debrief to discuss lessons learnt.  

The evaluation is based on:

• A final written exam with open questions about the topics encountered throughout the course (70%).
• A group project with final presentation at the end of the course (30%).

The evaluation is based on a written exam with open questions about the topics encountered during the course and the reading material (including additional readings indicated specifically for non attending students).

The reading material includes:

• Articles drawn from the management, organization and public administration literature.
• Chapters from some books and textbooks including:
  • G.C. JONES, Organizational Theory, Design and Change, 2013.
  • J. MARTIN, M. FELLENZ, Organizational Behaviour & Management, 2011.
  • E. ROGERS, Diffusion of Innovations, 2003, 5th edition.
• Case studies acquired from ECCH or written by the instructors.

The material includes all readings assigned to attending students and  additional articles drawn from the management, organization and public administration literature.