Curriculum

Prerequisites to the major: Students must complete an introductory course in microeconomics, psychology, and sociology. Courses required as prerequisites are:

• Economics 101
• Psychology 111, 112, 114 ,or 115
• Sociology 100, 102, 195, or 300 
   

Prerequisites may be taken on a P/F basis, but the actual grade received will be retrieved from UM records and considered in the OS admissions process (but your cumulative gpa will not be affected).

AP/IB/A-Level credit is acceptable to fulfill the Psychology and/or the Economics prerequisites. Transfer credit may also be used to fulfill prerequisites. For students taking prereq courses at other institutions, if you wish to elect the course P/F, we request that you verify with the host institution that you will receive an actual letter grade for the course, and that an official document showing that letter grade will be available from that institution to send to UM. If the host institution does not assign letter grades for P/F courses, and/or cannot produce a document showing a letter grade received, it is preferred that you elect the course on a graded basis (not P/F). Please contact the OS office with any questions or extenuating circumstances (org.studies@umich.edu).

Students should be aware that additional prerequisites are required for many of the upper-level courses in the OS curriculum. Depending on their particular area of interest, students may wish to complete Econ 102 and/or entry level courses in Political Science, Communication Studies, or other areas of interest as they prepare to apply to the OS program.
 

Core requirements: Two courses are required, and both must be taken in the first fall term after joining the program: 

• ORGSTUDY 305 Inside Organizations
• ORGSTUDY 310 Formal Organizations and Environments (fulfills ULWR)

See the Organizational Studies Course Descriptions below for descriptions of these courses.

Please note: OS 305 and OS 310 are required courses that are offered at only one time each fall semester. Because they are so central to the curriculum, there are no substitutions allowed for OS 305 and 310. If you are pursuing a dual degree, double-major, or less-commonly-taught language, or you have some other circumstance in which a conflict arises with OS 305 or OS 310, OS is unfortunately not able to provide flexibility, and you may have to choose between programs or remain extra terms.

Quantitative Skills (choose one): 

• Soc 210 Intro Statistics for Soc Sci ('Data Analysis' or regular sections are both accepted)
• Datasci 101 Intro to Data Science  (previously offered as Stats 206, which is also acceptable)
• Stats 250 Intro to Stats and Data Analysis
• Stats 280 Honors Intro Stats
• QMSS 201 Intro to Quantitative Methods in the Social Sciences

Please note: If you received credit for AP Stats (listed as Stats 180 on your transcript), you will lose that credit if you take Soc 210 or Stats 250 (can't have credit for both). 

For dual-degree Ross students, TO 301 may also be used to fulfill the OS Quant Skills requirement

Senior Research Capstone (choose one option):

• Orgstudy 410 Advanced Research Methods in Organizational Studies (OS seniors only, 4 cr)
  or
• Orgstudy 497 & 498 OS Honors Research I & II (approved OS Honors students only, 6-8 cr over two terms in the senior year)

OS 410 is offered in the Fall term only. For honors students, please note that two research courses are required in two different terms (typically OS 497 in fall and OS 498 in winter of senior year, 3-4 cr each).

Please note that OS 410 is offered at only one time each fall semester. Because this course is so central to the curriculum, there are no substitutions allowed (other than an honor thesis project). If you are pursuing a dual degree, double-major, less-commonly-taught language, or have some other circumstance in which a conflict with OS 410 arises, OS is unfortunately not able to provide flexibility, and you may have to choose between programs, remain extra terms, or pursue an honors thesis requiring two terms of enrollment.

The seven required Cluster courses must be chosen according to the following guidelines:

• 2 courses in Cluster A (Orgs and Individuals)
• 2 courses in Cluster B (Orgs and Society)
• 3 courses in any Cluster (A, B or C - Interest Cluster)

AND

• 2 of the 7 cluster courses must be ORGSTUDY 300/400-level courses
• Limit of 2 200-level courses in the Clusters
• Limit of 2 cluster courses taken off the AA campus

Definitions of each cluster and cluster course lists are available in the drop-down sections below. 

Cluster A Organizations and Individuals (micro) courses are those that focus mainly on questions and topics concerning the organized behavior of individuals or the behavior of individuals in organizations. Cluster A classes are broader in scope than Cluster C courses below, and are typically upper level offerings in the LSA curriculum. These courses may address the relations of individuals to larger social structures such as the family or formal organizations, but their concern with these larger structures will typically remain the impact thereof on individual psychology or individual behavior. Most psychology courses concerned with organizations and organized behavior will fall in this cluster, as will some courses in political science, anthropology, communications, and economics. Sociology courses rarely fall in this cluster.

Cross-listed courses are listed only once, under the first department alphabetically.
 

ALA 220/Psy 213/Soc 218 Foundations of Intergroup Relations
ALA 228/Psy 312/Soc 375 Intrgrp Conflict & Coexistence 
ALA 321/Psy 311/Soc 321 Practicum in Facil IGR
ALA 324 Facilitation for Effective Leadership
Anthrcul 330 Culture, Thought, and Meaning
Anthrcul/Ling 370 Lang & Discr: Lang as Soc Stmnt
Anthrcul/Ling 374 Language and Culture
BE/TO 435 Behvrl Econ and Behvrl Operations
Cmplxsys 270 Agent-Based Modeling
Comm 281 Media Psychology
Econ 401 Intermediate Microeconomic Theory
Environ/Psych 360 Behavior and Environment
Environ/Orgstudy/RCIDIV 391 Sustainability and the Campus (A or B, stdt choice)
Environ/Orgstudy 418 Ldrshp & Env Stwrdshp Orgs (A or B, stdt choice)
Environ/Orgstudy 419 Business, Sustainability, Justice (A or B, stdt choice)
Mkt 313 Consumer Behavior
Orgstudy 201 Leadership and Collaboration
Orgstudy 205 Psych of Inequality (no crdt for OS 495 same topic or OS 425)
Orgstudy 295 Soc Sci Topics OS (will be designated A or B based on topic)
Orgstudy 402 Data, Work, and Organizations (A or B, stdt choice)
Orgstudy 405 Negotiations
Orgstudy 425 Psych of Inequality
Orgstudy 435 Mng People & Strat Chng in Orgs (A or B, stdt choice)
Orgstudy 445/Soc 418 Organizational Culture (A or B, stdt choice)
Orgstudy 455 Organizational Wrongdoing (A or B, stdt choice)
Orgstudy 460 Racial Disparities in Policing (A or B, stdt choice) (fulfills RE requirement)
Orgstudy 490 Adv Resrch Tm (will be designated A or B based on topic)
Orgstudy 495 Spec Tpcs OS (will be designated A or B based on topic)
Polsci 490 Game Theory and Formal Models
Psych 280 Social Psychology
Psych 297/WGS 297 Promoting Equity&Incl Univ & Wrkpl
Psych 353 Social Development
Psych 389 Psychology and Law
Psych 393 Political Psychology
Psych 449 DecisionProcesses
Psych 467 Current Topics in Organizational Psych (all topics)
Psych 487 Current Topics in Social Psych (topic 35 only: Psychology of Prejudice)
SI 301 Models of Soc Info Processing
SI 310 Information Environments and Work
SI 315 Interpers & Psych Implications of Social Media

Cluster B Organizations and Society (macro) courses are those that focus mainly on questions and topics concerning the organization of social groups (e.g., ethnic groups), historical processes (e.g., the rise of capitalism), and/or medium to large social structures (e.g., corporations, national governments, or global governing bodies). They are broader in scope than Cluster C courses below, and are typically upper level offerings in the LSA curriculum. Although Cluster B courses may at times address the impact of such larger structures and processes on individual behavior or may include attention to particular individuals from U.S. or world history, the primary concern of Cluster B courses is with questions about how social groups, historical processes, and social structures emerge, remain stable, and/or change. Most sociology, political science, and history courses will fall in this cluster, as will some economics and anthropology courses.

Crosslisted courses are listed only once, under the first department alphabetically.

AAS 248 Crime, Race, and Law
AAS 262/History 272 20th Cent African-American Social Movements
AAS/Soc 303 Race and Ethnic Relations
AAS/RCSSCI 330 Urban and Community Studies
Amcult/Soc 221 Social Inequality
Amcult 281/History 281 How to Become Billionaire: Bus Tycns & Dev Wstrn Cptlsm
Amcult 314/ASIANPAM 314/History 378 History of Asian Americans in US
Amcult 399 Race, Racism and Ethnicity
Anthrcul/Ling 272 Language in Society
Anthrcul 331 Kinship, Soc Org, and Society
Cmplxsys/Environ/PubPol 250 Energy and Climate Change: Tech, Mkts, Policy
Cmplxsys/Soc 260 Social Dynamics
Cmplxsys/Polsci 391 Modeling Pol Processes
Comm 251/FTVM 324 Media Industries
Comm 370 Social Networks
Comm 421 Media Law and Policy
Comm 425 Internet, Society, and the Law
Econ 320 Survey of Labor Econ
Econ 330 American Industries
Econ 398 Strategy
Econ 402 Macroeconomics
Econ 414 Growth Theory
Econ 431 Industrial Org and Performance
Econ 444 European Economy
Environ/Orgstudy 208 Business and Sustainability
Environ/Orgstudy/RCIDIV 391 Sustainability and the Campus (A or B, stdt choice)
Environ/Orgstudy 418 Ldrshp & Env Stwrdshp Orgs (A or B, stdt choice)
Environ/Orgstudy 419 Business, Sustainability, Justice (A or B, stdt choice)
Orgstudy 202 Race and Organizations
Orgstudy 204 Nonprofits (no credit for OS 420 Non-profit Orgs)
Orgstudy 206 Technological Innovation
Orgstudy 295 Soc Sci Tpcs OS (will be designated A or B based on topic)
Orgstudy 402 Data, Work, and Organizations (A or B, stdt choice)
Orgstudy 420 Non-profit Organizations (No credit for OS 204)
Orgstudy 435 Mng People & Strat Chng in Orgs (A or B, stdt choice)
Orgstudy 440 Organizations in the Developing World
Orgstudy 445/Soc 418 Organizational Culture (A or B, stdt choice)
Orgstudy 450 Technological Innovation
Orgstudy 455 Organizational Wrongdoing (A or B, stdt choice)
Orgstudy 460 Racial Disparities in Policing (A o r B, stdt choice) (fulfills RE requirement)
Orgstudy 490 Adv Resrch Tm (will be designated A or B based on topic)
Orgstudy 495 Spec Tpcs OS (will be designated A or B based on topic)
Polsci 311 American Political Process
PPE 300 Intro to Political Economy
PubPol 320 Politics, Pol Instit and Pub Polciy
PubPol 422 Congress and State Legislatures
RCSSCI 301/Soc 313 Social Science Theory I
Religion/Soc 455 Religion and Society
Soc 305 Intro to Sociological Theory
Soc 315 Economic Sociology
Soc 440 Sociology of Work
Soc/WGS 451 Women and Work
Soc 460 Social Change
Soc 461 Social Movements

Cluster C (Interest) courses in the Organizational Studies curriculum are intended to allow majors to pursue their curriculum pathway interests in a more specialized way. Cluster C courses should have an organizational theme and can be of either the macro or micro variety, but are almost always more narrow and focused in their content. Cluster C courses can and do often come from a variety of departments both in LSA and in various other UM schools and colleges.

Crosslisted courses are listed only once, under the first department alphabetically.

AAS 250 Law, Race, and Hist Process I
AAS 347/RCSSCI 343/Soc 335 Urban Inequality in America
AAS 356/Polsci 355 Democracy and Development in Africa
AAS 418/Polsci 324 Black Americans & Pol System
ACC 471 Accounting Principles
AMAS 330/AMCULT 330 Arab American Cultural Studies
Amcult 341/History 343 Rise of the Corporation
Amcult 438/History 444/Judaic 440 History of Jews & Soc Just in US
BA 445 Base of the Pyramid: Bus Innov & Soc Impact
BA 453 Capstone Multidisc Action Projects
BA/History 476 American Business History
BL 306 Legal Aspects of Management and Finance
Busabrd 320 Global Immersion Study Abroad
Comm/Polsci 329 Media and Political Behvr
Comm 380 Persuasion, Commun, and Campaigns
Econ 310 Money and Banking
Econ 323 Econ and Gender
Econ 340 International Economics
Econ 370/Environ 375 Envir & Resource Economics
Educ 469 DSIP (Development Summer Intern Program)
English 319 Literature and Social Change
Environ 361/Psych 362 Psych of Env Stewardship
Environ 370/URP 423 Intro to Urban & Environ Planning
ES 395 Entrepreneurial Management
ES 444 Finance for Societal Good
Fin 302 Making Financial Decisions
History 343/Amcult 341 Rise of the Corporation
History 349/LACS 349Revolutionary Mvmts in Mod Latin Amer
History 411/Polsci 319 Politics of Civil Liberties and Civil Rights
Mkt 302 Marketing Management
MO 302 Leading People & Organizations
MO 321 Leadership in Organizations
MO 414 Managing Change
MO 415 Intro to Managing Human Capital
MO 455 Foundations in Positive Org Scholarship
Orgstudy 395 Current Issues in Org Studies (cluster may vary)
Polsci 325/PubPol 201 Systematic Thinking
Polsci 369 Politics of Internatl Econ Relations
Psych 314 Positive Psychology
Psych 356 Educational Psychology
Psych 488/Soc/WGS 465 Soc Analysis of Deviant Behavior
PubHlth 200 Health & Society – Intro Pub Health
PubHlth 300 Behvrl & Soc Sci Foundtn for Hlth Professions
PubHlth 381 Pub Hlth Systems; Achvmnts & Challenges
PubPol 423 Political Campaign Strategy
RCSSCI 312/SW 312 Env Justice, Comm Org Detroit
RCSTP 365 Excellence, Equity, and Politics of Educ
SI 334 Persuasion and Social Influence
SI 460 Modeling Success: Sci of Entrep in Info Age
SM 332 Organizational Behavior in Sports Orgs
Soc 270/WGS 270 Gender and the Law
Soc 331 Politics of Data
Soc 354 Law and Society
Soc/WGS 447 Sociology of Gender
Soc 458 Sociology of Education
Soc 475 Health, Medicine and Society
Soc 489/RCSSCI 461 Organizing: People, Power & Change
Strategy 302 Business Strategy
Strategy 400 Strategies for Sustainable Development
SW 305 Theories and Practices for Comm Actn & Soc Chng
Thtremus 385 Perform Arts Mgmt
TO 302 Managing Business Operations
WGS 350 Non-Profit Mgmt, Comm Engmnt, Feminist Prac

ORGSTUDY 195 Special Topics in Org Studies (3 cr), does not count toward OS major
Recent topics offered: 
Deviance, Sex, Drugs, and Stigma
Everything from underage drinking to cross-dressing to suicide can be understood as a form of deviance. However, these acts are not considered deviant in all contexts or at all points in history. In this class we will ask such questions as: Who decides if a behavior is deviant? How does our understanding of deviance change over time? What are the consequences of being labeled a deviant and how do people respond to such labeling? What role have organizations like the American Psychological Association and the American Medical Association, as well as schools and the criminal justice system played in the construction and deconstruction of deviant categories? We will draw on sociological theory to explore these questions, discuss a wide variety of deviant behaviors and identities, including crime, mental illness, and "deviant" sexualities, and experiment by conducting deviant acts of our own. This course is specifically designed for first-year students—no Organizational Studies experience required.

Please note for the 200-level courses listed below:
200-level ORGSTUDY courses are not prerequisites for the OS major.
They are intended to give first- and second-year students an introduction to the field of organizational studies from various disciplinary perspectives

ORGSTUDY 200-level courses may be counted toward an OS major. However, students majoring in (or hoping to major in) Org Studies should note these limitations:
 - a maximum of two 200-level courses may be used to fulfill cluster requirements in the major;
 - 200-level couses do *not* fulfill the requirement for two 300+ ORGSTUDY courses in the clusters;
 - Courses taken P/F may not be counted toward major requirements.

ORGSTUDY 201 Leadership and Collaboration (3 cr)
This highly-interactive course leverages a broad foundation in the social sciences to explore what it takes to be a great leader, enabling meaningful collaboration even when you lack formal authority. This includes focus on the individual, the team, the context, and the structures of effective leadership. The course is grounded in four pillars of leadership: taking initiative, instilling confidence, exercising influence, and achieving results. Both cutting-edge and seminal research is used to provide a foundation of understanding that focuses on being real in applicability and bringing the concepts of leadership to life in our complicated and ever-changing world. Expect to increase both the depth and breadth of your leadership knowledge through engaging class discussions, practical exercises, group projects, leader profiles, individual reflection, and more.

ORGSTUDY 202 Race and Organizations (3 cr)
This course introduces students to the array of ways in which race and racism influence organizational structures and how organizational processes then shape patterns of racial inequality. Beyond developing theoretical tools and empirical understandings of race, racism, and organizations, the class leverages wide ranging data and contexts to refine students’ analytic capabilities enabling them to answer complex and pressing social questions. For example, how do we create organizational structures to prevent racial discrimination in hiring or promotion? Why is racial inequality so persistent across organizations from firms to schools and even the government? Does the use of big data and algorithms produce more objective decision making that ameliorates racial inequality or not? Does having diversity programs make organizations diverse? How has legislation and courts improved or potentially deepened problems of race in organizations? We will grapple with these questions and more to understand racial inequality in America through organizations. In the process, we will sharpen our eye for identifying problems and evaluating evidence to imagine alternative possibilities and structures for the organizations we traverse.

ORGSTUDY 204 Nonprofits (3 cr) 
(ORGSTUDY 420 is upper-level version of this course; no credit if already completed OS 420)
What do universities, hospitals, churches, labor unions, parks, anti-poverty agencies, museums, environmental agencies, human rights advocates, and transportation departments all have in common? They can all be classified as not-for-profit organizations.
As you can see, nonprofits take a variety of forms and are involved with many aspects of our daily lives. This course is an introduction to the nonprofit sector, the umbrella for the diverse terms above. It focuses primarily on the history and structure of the nonprofit sector in the United States; contemporary debates concerning the function and impact of the nonprofit sector; and key differences between the U.S. nonprofit sector and those in other countries.
Additionally, nonprofits are riddled with tensions, many of which we will discuss in this class. For example, do nonprofits enliven or undermine democracy? Are market-based management structures appropriate for organizations producing a public good? Who should nonprofits be “accountable” to, and how should effectiveness be measured? While learning about these tensions, you will learn to challenge and question the sector’s taken-for-granted practices.
Counts for the Department of Sociology's Law, Justice, and Social Change (LJSC) subplan/minor

ORGSTUDY 206 Technological Innovation (3 cr)
ORGSTUDY 450 is upper-level version of this course; no credit if already completed OS 450)
This course will be roughly organized into three different sections. As a starting place, (i) we will discuss some of the general characteristics of technological innovation as a social process; from there, (ii) we will examine some of the major characteristics offirms (and other organizations) that encourage or inhibit technological innovation or behaviors that are associated with innovative behavior; and, finally, (iii) we will make a brief study of the kinds of broader social, political, and economic conditions that are likely to facilitate technological innovation among local firms.
The intention of the course is to provide theoretical basis for understanding innovation, anchored by both historical and current empirical examples, applied case studies that require the application of existing theory, and guest speakers whose jobs involve technological innovation. There are, in fact, a number of uncertainties and ongoing debates regarding both how to structure firms for innovation and what can be done to promote the environmental conditions the favor firms. That is to say, while you will draw applicable lessons from the course, it is intended to provide you a broad understanding of issues related to innovation rather than to more narrowly train you how to “do” innovation.

ORGSTUDY 208/ENVIRON 208 Business and Sustainability (3 cr)
This course is an introduction to business and the natural environment. This course starts with an overview of the triple bottom line framework, in which corporations take into account social and environmental performance in addition to financial performance. Then we will focus on contemporary business activities that address the natural environment. We will read influential research papers that integrate sociology, psychology, and economic theories to evaluate different business strategies and approaches to the natural environment. We will discuss the role of the natural environment on business management and strategy, operations, supply chain, product innovation, and marketing. Throughout this course, my goal is to provide you with an understanding of a variety of activities that corporations take to address challenges with the natural environment and to help you develop the skills to critically analyze these corporate activities and recognize strengths and weaknesses in different corporate strategies.

ORGSTUDY 295 Social Science Topics in Organizational Studies (3 cr)
Courses under this special topics number are meant to engage freshmen and sophomores with interests in organizational theory and its application to a wide variety of disciplines, including but not limited to sociology, psychology, and economics. While topics will vary, the courses will be taught by Organizational Studies or affiliated faculty, and will be thematic in nature, focusing on an interdisciplinary approach to studying organizations. Recent topics have included Prisons and Social Control, Higher Education Organizations, and Organizational Wrongdoing. 

Topics can vary. See LSA Courseguide for descriptions.  Recent topics have included:

• Prosocial Leadership
• Intro to Data: A Farm to Table Approach
• Urban Inequality and Policy in US
• Making Public Services Work

ORGSTUDY 305 Inside Organizations (3 cr), Required Core - OS juniors only
This course offers an overview of the psychology of people in organizations, broadly defined. Topics will focus on social dynamics in organizations, including employee motivation, influencing others, decision-making, cooperation, culture, leadership, and teams, to name a few. The format of the course will comprise lectures, general discussions, and smaller seminar discussions. To complement the standard reading material, case studies will also be read as a common touchstone for analyzing and discussing psychological phenomena in a real world organizational context.

ORGSTUDY 310 Formal Organizations and Environments (3cr), Required Core - OS juniors only
This course provides OS students with a survey of theory and research on formal organizations from sociological and economic perspectives. The course emphasizes multiple levels of analysis in organizational theory from internal structure and practice to organization-environment relationships. Students apply theories to existing case studies and develop original case research over the course of the term.

ORGSTUDY/ENVIRON/RCIDIV 391 Sustainability and the Campus (3 cr)
This “hands-on” interdisciplinary course explores sustainability in higher education generally and at the University of Michigan specifically in a dynamic, interactive way. Drawing upon theory and practice in sustainability, environmental management, organizational change and social advocacy, students conduct a substantial, hands-on group project in conjunction with a university sponsor. Past projects have led or helped lead to the creation of the “Welcome to Planet Blue” guide, the planting of a campus garden, formation of the UM Sustainability Foods Program, planning for a Waste-Free Big House and many other direct outcomes. Through guest lectures, discussions, simulations, lectures, and the group project, this course addresses the real-life challenges of campus environmental sustainability. The focus is on active, participation-based learning; students leave the course with an understanding of the campus as a lever for environmental change and with the personal tools to act as change agents. Beyond directly impacting the campus, this course helps develop professional skills in sustainability project management.

ORGSTUDY 405 Negotiation and Dispute Resolution (3 cr)
The purpose of this course is to understand the theory and processes of negotiation as it is practiced in a variety of settings. Negotiation is the art and science of securing agreements between two or more interdependent parties. We negotiate every day. We enter into negotiations with potential employers, coworkers, roommates, landlords, parents, bosses, merchants, service providers, and many others. What price we want to pay, how much we want to be paid, who will clean the kitchen... all of these are negotiations. Yet, while we negotiate often, many of us know very little about the strategy and psychology of effective negotiations. Why do we sometimes get our way while other times we walk away feeling frustrated by our inability to achieve the agreement we desire? A basic premise of the course is that while one needs analytical skills to develop optimal solutions to problems, a broad array of negotiation skills is needed in order for these solutions to be accepted and implemented. The course will highlight the components of effective negotiation and teach students to analyze their own behavior in negotiations. The course will be largely experiential, providing students with an opportunity to develop their skills by participating in negotiations and integrating their experiences with the principles presented in the assigned readings and course discussions.

ORGSTUDY 410 Advanced Research Methods in Organizational Studies (4 cr)
OS Seniors only - Senior Research Capstone Credit
This hands-on course is devoted to the use of social science research methods to study organizations, emphasizing the use of experimental, survey, and interview methods. Course topics include work design, motivation, and satisfaction, groups and teams, research design, and interviewing skills.
This course emphasizes learning by doing. You and your team will be charged with carrying out a field research project in a client organization. Each project provides an opportunity to experience the study of an organizational unit from start to finish, including designing and administering appropriate experimental, survey, interview, and archival data collection techniques, planning and conducting data analysis, interpreting and communicating the results in written and oral presentations, and providing feedback to the client organization.
The primary goals of this course are:
 - To gain a deeper understanding of the process of conducting research in and consulting for organizations
 - To develop and enhance actionable knowledge and skills, and
 - To gather data to have a positive impact on the client organizations.

ORGSTUDY/ENVIRON 418 Leadership and Environmental Stewardship (3 cr)
This course focuses on the skills and strategies that can help you become a more effective leader for the environment. Students will learn about the importance of decision-making, influence, and teamwork for implementing organization change and innovation towards greater environmental stewardship. We will focus on the different roles that leaders take in addressing environmental strategies within and across for-profit, not-for-profit, and governmental organizations. Students will also analyze and reflect upon their own personal goals and challenges as environmental leaders.

ORGSTUDY/ENVIRON 419 Business, Sustainability, and Justice (3 cr)
This seminar will engage with the intersection of business, sustainability, and diversity, equity, inclusion & accessibility (DEIA). This course is designed to help students recognize and analyzehow businesses’ approaches to sustainability support and/or neglect issues of DEIA. The course offers students an opportunity to develop critical thinking on topics such as businesses’ impact onenvironmental and social justice. Class sessions will be experiential and discussion-based.

ORGSTUDY 420 Nonprofit Organizations (3 cr), no credit if already completed OS 204
In the first half of the course, we will pose and answer questions about the nonprofit sector’s emergence in the United States; its changing relations with government and with the for-profit sector; the current state of the nonprofit sector; and its likely future. Comparative analyses of different domains of US nonprofit activity (the arts, education, philanthropy, etc.) will provide an in-depth understanding of the processes and issues that divide and structure the nonprofit sector internally. In the second half of the course, drawing on readings in the law, public policy, and business, we will develop practical knowledge of the special challenges that come with managing and working for a nonprofit organization.

ORGSTUDY 435 Managing People and Strategic Change in Organizations (3 cr)
At their core, organizations are people-driven enterprises. One of the most critical success factors for organizational leaders is the ability to successfully and efficiently implement strategically important change. Because a change of any magnitude is an inherently social process in organizations, it is vital that an organization’s human capital approach is robust and resilient to the constantly changing world in which it operates.
Grounded in organizational behavior research and theory, this highly interactive course provides practical understanding and skills to manage human resources in the context of strategic change. Topics include (but are not limited to): thinking strategically, culture, job analysis, and design, recruitment and selection, training and development, performance management, and incremental and transformational approaches to change. Understanding these important human capital concepts will equip students with the tools needed to devise effective strategies to better navigate changes in the workplace.

ORGSTUDY 440 Organizations in the Developing World (3 cr) –

View our course promo video & hear from the professor and past students 
This is a course on economic development that examines the manner in which organizations – both in the private and public sector – can shape the growth and distribution of wealth in a country or region. Poverty and poor living standards in the developing world are frequently traced back to alleged pathologies in countries’ institutions, structural conditions, or levels of social capital. Some kinds of organizations help reduce or overcome these pathologies and allow their countries or regions to grow economically and improve social wellbeing. For example, an effective planning agency in Korea promoted rapid (if unequal) technological and economic growth in South Korean businesses. Similarly, many NGOs promote development by explicitly seeking to build beneficial networks between individuals or groups to diffuse technologies or information or coordinate with one another. But other forms of organizations, such as large business conglomerates in Latin America, may behave in ways that perpetuate slow and unequal growth because of the manner in which their organizations operate. In short, understanding organizations – broadly defined – is critical to the study of development.
The course is structured into two sections. The first section will familiarize you with some primary theories about why some countries or regions develop faster than others. In the second part of the class, we will look specifically at different kinds of organizations – from cooperatives to industry associations, from small domestic businesses to multinational corporations, to government agencies and NGOs. Our discussions of these organizations will examine the manner in which their structure and behavior relates to development.
In exploring this relationship between developmental outcomes and organizations in the developing world, the course includes three kinds of material. The first is geared toward establishing a theoretical understanding of major perspectives on development and underdevelopment. The second are empirical studies of a variety of different organizations – from firms and cooperatives to government agencies and non-governmental organizations – that apply those developmental perspectives to particular cases. Finally, the class will also integrate the application of development theories to descriptive case studies of organizations, which we will use to develop analytical skills through theoretically-informed analysis of contemporary cases.

ORGSTUDY 445 Organizational Culture (3 cr)
This course explores aspects of organizational culture, including how culture is created and transmitted, and how it impacts behavior in a variety of organizational settings. We will examine how organizational culture can affect social interactions, facilitate or inhibit wrongdoing, and reflect the broader national cultures in which organizations are embedded.  You will apply your knowledge by analyzing the cultures of organizations in the Ann Arbor area.

ORGSTUDY 450 Technological Innovation (3 cr), no credit if already complete OS 206
We are thought by some to be living in a golden age of innovation, with technological changes occurring at an increasing rate. And technological innovation is a primary goal of many businesses that seek to remain competitive and of many government policies that hope to aid local industries in being innovative. But there is a great deal of variation in which kinds of firms and which kinds of regions are highly innovative: many enterprises and regions lag behind, despite the emphasis on creating and diffusing new technologies. This variation raises the central question of what conditions actually engender or inhibit innovation. Focusing on technological innovation in the business world, this course examines what firm-level characteristics make some better able to develop technologies than others, and what social and political characteristics help make some regions more innovative than others.

This course will be roughly organized into three different sections. As a starting place, (i) we will discuss some of the general characteristics of technological innovation as a social process; from there, (ii) we will examine some of the major characteristics of firms (and other organizations) that encourage or inhibit technological innovation or behaviors that are associated with innovative behavior; and, finally, (iii) we will make a brief study of the kinds of broader social, political, and economic conditions that are likely to facilitate technological innovation among local firms. The intention of the course is to provide a theoretical basis for understanding innovation, anchored by both historical and current empirical examples, applied case studies that require the application of existing theory, and guest speakers whose jobs involve technological innovation. There are, in fact, a number of uncertainties and ongoing debates regarding both how to structure firms for innovation and what can be done to promote the environmental conditions that favor firms. That is to say, while you will draw applicable lessons from the course, it is intended to provide you a broad understanding of issues related to innovation rather than to more narrowly train you how to “do” innovation.

ORGSTUDY 455 Organizational Wrongdoing (3 cr)
Hardly a day goes by when organizational wrongdoing is not among the headlines - from the misuse of data and sports scandals to interpersonal behaviors such as cheating and sexual misconduct.  In this course, we will address these issues, among others, as we examine wrongdoing in and by organizations.  We will explore the structural and cultural conditions that increase the likelihood of misconduct, as well as the steps that organizations can take to prevent such behavior.  While some misconduct discussed in this course is the result of greed or the desire to do harm, we will also consider how wrongdoing can be unintentional or a product of benign organizational practices that can be avoided.  To this end, we will ask why ethical people sometimes engage in unethical behavior.

ORGSTUDY 460 Racial Disparities in Policing: Causes, Consequences, and Correctives
The rise of the Black Lives Matter movement has brought renewed public attention to an enduring social problem in America: racial disparities in policing, and gaps in police-community trust. Where do these inequities come from? What processes contribute to disparities in the policing? And what can we do to address them? The overarching goal of this course is to get “under the hood” of racial inequality in policing through organizational analysis: to identify the institutional and individual contributors to disparities, so that we can combat them. 

ORGSTUDY 490 Advanced Research Team (1-4 cr, but 3 cr is typical)
Students participate in small research teams with OS faculty on their current research. Students in the research teams will conduct experiments and surveys, analyze data, and discuss findings with OS faculty. Recent research areas have included Politics of Crime Victims Movement in US, Cooperative Enterprises in a Changing Global Economy, Student Experiences of College, Social Psychology of Racial Inequlity, and various other areas.

ORGSTUDY 495 Special Topics in Organizational Studies (3 cr)
Seminar topics vary by semester.  See LSA Courseguide for more information.  Recent topics have included:
 - Prosocial Leadership
 - Gender in Organizations
 - Higher Education Organizations
 - Urban Inequality and Policy in US
 - Business, Power, and Politics
 - Behavioral Science for Social Impact 
 - Social Organization of the City in Film
 - Making Public Services Work
 - Credit, Debt, and the Financing of American Inequality
 - Organizational Performance and Reform
 - Public Service Reform Around the World

ORGSTUDY 497 & 498 OS Honors Research I & II (3-4 cr each), OS seniors only
These classes fulfill the Senior Research Capstone Experience for student approved to pursue honors research. Students admitted to the OS Honors option will enroll in the OS Honors Research sequence in the senior year (OS 497+OS 498). These are independent study courses in which the student will conduct research and produce a thesis under the guidance of a faculty mentor. Students will also meet several times each term with the OS Honors Coordinator for ongoing assistance and support throughout the project.
Students typically enroll in OS 497 in the fall term of the senior year, during which the student will conduct research and analysis, and may complete some section drafts for the thesis. OS 497 will be graded by the faculty mentor.
OS 498 is typically taken during the winter term of the senior year, during which the honors student will complete the research and thesis begun in OS 497. The thesis will be evaluated by a panel of 3 readers, who will indicate the Honors designation to appear on the student’s transcript and diploma (honors, high honors, or highest honors). The student will also present their work at the OS Honors Symposium. OS 498 will be graded by the faculty mentor.

ORGSTUDY 499 Independent Study (1-4 cr)
Does NOT count as credit toward OS Major Requirements unless approved by individual petition
OS 499 is used for individual independent study projects with a faculty supervisor. This course does not count toward OS major requirements unless approved by individual petition.  If you are a declared OS major, visit the OS Portal to find a link to the Indep Study Enrollment Form.  If you are a non-OS student who is planning an Indep Study with an OS professor, and you wish to use OS 499 as the course number, please contact org.studies@umich.edu.

Please refer to OS Waitlist Policy regarding overrides to any of these courses.