Organization Theories & HR Management

Training objectives of the course

The course aims at providing the basic knowledge useful in order to understand the functioning and the evolution of business organizations and the practical skills needed to effectively operate inside them as a manager.

Passing the final exam, students should:
- know the main organizational theories, i.e. theoretical models for understanding organizational and managerial dynamics;
- have developed the knowledge necessary for building a basic organizational vocabulary;
- master the main models and tools for organizational design both in terms of technical (i.e. structure, technology, operational mechanisms) and social variables (i.e. leadership, culture, power, people);
- know the Human Resources Management systems, with a special focus on internal communication processes, given that employees represent a key stakeholder of the organization;
- be able of autonomously realizing an effective organizational analysis, moving from the theoretical models presented, focusing on both analytical and problem-solving skills, which represent the core of managerial competence;
- have the practical ability to design, both at micro and macro levels, effective and efficient organizational structures, coherent with the market environment and the business strategy;
- have the capacity of managing the main Human Resources systems and tools.

Course programme

Coherently with the above-mentioned objectives, the main content of the course consists in providing students with specific knowledge and know-how for analyzing and designing organizational structures and human resources management systems, which both represent crucial channels for internal and external communication in any private and public organizations.

Here follows their articulation:
Evolution of organizational theories
- The fundamentals of organizational theory
- The main organizational theories: classical, contingency, action, actors and post-contingency
- Organizational system: main characteristics
- Organizational analysis and design
- Structures and coordination mechanisms
- Culture, leadership and power inside organizations
- Technology and organizational design: features and trends
- Human resources management: basic principles and evolution
- Human resources strategic management
- Human resources processes: recruiting, assessment, career, training.

Didactic Methods

Coherently with the training objectives of the course, the didactical methods are:
a) lectures for presenting the theoretical models and concepts in order to improve organizational knowledge;
b) analysis and discussion of case studies, in order to verify the application of theories and models to the specific situation of real companies;
c) company presentations by Human Resources managers working for large companies aimed at contextualizing the learning process inside the functioning of real organizations.

Lessons are also integrated by practical exercises and case studies, aimed at developing the competence of critically analyzing managerial and organizational problems.

The course will use an online community to share information and materials.

Learning assessment procedures

The exam will take the following form for both attending and not attending students:
- a written computer-based test based on 31 multiple choice questions delivered through the platform Questionmark. There is no penalty for wrong answers;
- an optional oral exam on student’s request.

The program is differentiated for attending and not attending students as indicated in the section “Textbooks”.

The exam grade will be expressed as a mark out of 30.

For students on international mobility it is possible to opt for the oral exam only.

Students with specific learning disorders and with disabilities are invited to contact the course responsible to agree on the examination methods on the basis of their personal documentation prepared by the Office DiversaMENTE.

Reference Texts

The program of the exam is differentiated for attending and not attending students as indicated in the following.

R.L. DAFT, J. MURPHY, H. WILLMOTT, Organization Theory & Design (4th edition, 2020), Cengage, Boston.
All students: chapters 1, 4, 5, 11, 12, 14.

R.A. NOE et alt., Human Resource Management (10th edition), McGraw-Hill Education, 2017.
Attending students: chapters 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9.
Not attending students: all chapters


D. BOLDIZZONI, L. QUARATINO, didactic lecture notes on “Organization Theories”, 2021-2022 (available in the online course community)
All students: all chapters.

The exam program for attending students will remain valid for all the examination sessions of the current academic year