OS News

Special registration instructions for the ORGSTUDY 490s and 495s are at the end of each class description. Have fun planning for an invigorating winter semester!

Students in this research laboratory course will learn about “the psychology of competitive advantage” by learning how to conduct experiments and surveys and analyze existing data sets to test a variety of hypotheses related to competition. Harnessing the social psychology and decision-making literatures, we will explore factors that influence people’s motivation to compete and, consequently, their willingness to enter joint ventures, form strategic alliances, share scarce resources, and collaborate with other competitors.

This research laboratory course can also provide a strong platform for launching honors theses in Organizational Studies (or related fields), and students, if they are interested, will also have the opportunity of co-authoring an article manuscript that could conceivably lead to a publication.

Students may register with instructor permission only. Interested students should e-mail Professor Garcia a page long statement explaining their interest (smgarcia@umich.edu).

Lab group participants engage in advanced empirical research on one of several sponsored projects on political networks. The projects include, but are not limited to - studies of the antiwar movement, the politics of art, presidential nominations, Supreme Court precedents, and networks among political campaign consultants. Enrolled students are required to do the following: 1. Participate in research presentations to be held on Tuesday’s meeting time (11:30 am-1:00pm) of each week ; 2. Conduct research for three hours per week (to be arranged) on one of the sponsored projects in the lab; and 3. Write a final research paper that addresses some question or problem relevant to the study of political networks.

Students may register with instructor permission only. Interested students should set up a meeting with Professor Heaney via e-mail (mheaney@umich.edu).

This course examines the ways that citizens, firms, and institutions struggle to gain representation through organized interest groups in the United States. We attempt to negotiate an understanding of groups that neither quixotically champion their representative functions nor cynically decry their supposed omnipotence. Instead, we situate groups within a larger context of multiple actors and institutions vying for political influence. We use an organizational perspective to evaluate this behavior. The course begins by establishing several frameworks for evaluating interest group politics. We then explore how groups face dilemmas of collective action and (sometimes) overcome them through the formation of social movements and lobbying organizations. We consider how groups form relationships with political parties and other political elites in Washington, DC. We evaluate group strategies for lobbying Congress and achieving influence over elections, bureaucratic decision making, and judicial processes. The course concludes with international comparisons of interest groups and by evaluating the place of interest groups in the broader American political system.

This course is a meet together with Political Science (PS 489.003; you may receive OS credit regardless of whether you register under ORGSTUDY or PS). 15 seats are reserved for OS Students and OS Seniors will have sole access to register until Dec 7. On Dec. 7, the remainder of the open seats will be for OS concentrators at large to be filled on a first-come, first-served basis.

The U.S. healthcare system delivers some of the best and worst healthcare in the world. While our country spends more than twice what other developed nations spend, we lag behind them in efficiency, safety and access to care—according to a 2006 study supported by the Commonwealth Fund. On the other hand, we offer the most sophisticated technology available in the world for treating specific diseases and for prolonging life near its end. In this class, we will explore how the organization of our healthcare delivery system has contributed to this dilemma. We will explore why the United States is one of the only developed countries not to have universal health insurance and how health insurance and health professionals have contributed to the unique design of the U.S. healthcare system. We will explore the delivery of care in areas where the United States does not excel—such as in mental health service—and in those in which we do excel—such as in cancer treatment. Students will learn to identify critical elements of the US healthcare system, compare its quality and efficiency to other nations, and evaluate how and what types of improvements are needed to achieve the maximum benefit for our population.

OS seniors will have sole access to register until Dec 7. On Dec. 7, the remainder of the open seats will be for OS concentrators at large to be filled on a first-come, first-served basis.

This course explores the relationship between formal and informal social networks and the dynamics of organizational processes. Networks may be based on friendship, technical expertise, family, authority, sexual relations, common interest, political alliances, electronic communication, or many other factors. We consider a variety of theories of networks (e.g., small worlds, the strength of weak ties, structural holes) and apply them to topics such as Facebook friendships, social movement activism, the choice of sexual partners, and advancement within a corporation. We will give special attention to the question of how to "use" networks to attain organizational objectives. Computer applications will be emphasized, though no specialized computing knowledge is prerequisite.

OS seniors will have sole access to register until Dec 7. On Dec. 7, the remainder of the open seats will be for OS concentrators at large to be filled on a first-come, first-served basis.

ORGSTUDY 498 Honors Research Students: Please make sure NOT to register for Section 001 of ORGSTUDY 498 as that is a dummy number. I will be issuing individual independent study permissions in order for you to enroll in ORGSTUDY 498. Make sure that you enroll in the section number associated with your honors thesis advisor.