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Planning a Concentration Pathway Sample Concentration Pathways Concentration Pathways Workbook (PDF) Resources for Assistance Pathway Declaration Form (PDF) |
Concentration Pathways
Organizations are everywhere. As human beings, we participate in organized behavior from the very moment we wake in the morning until we drop off to sleep at night. And some would even propose that our dreams are related to and shaped by the organizations where we live. Some of our human organizational systems-like families or schools or places of worship-are vitally important to our development as people. Others, like our peer groups and friendship networks, are crucial to our support and well-being. Still others, like newspaper and electronic media, keep us informed and entertained. Some organizations safeguard and debate national interests, some keep us connected to others around the globe, some watch over our health, some keep local communities vibrant and functional, and some engage us in meaningful work.
Because organizations are everywhere, we can study them from many perspectives. An economic perspective, for instance, might emphasize the ways in which organizations are contractual entities-even going so far as to suggest ways in which organizations create psychological contracts with people. A sociological perspective might emphasize that organizations are actors-treated as entities under the law-that interact with other organizations in institutional fields of competition that help shape organizational inertia and organizational change. And a psychological perspective on organized behavior shows us that, even within an array of societal and economic forces, individual action matters and people insist on making sense of the organizational world in meaningful ways.
Because the curriculum is so rich and the arenas of inquiry are so diverse, the Interdisciplinary Program in Organizational Studies has created a planning tool called "Concentration Pathways." This tool is designed to encompass several disciplines, but also allow students to navigate more clearly and proactively through the array of courses available to them.
A Concentration Pathway is like a map of the intellectual terrain students want to explore. It is a set of flexible guidelines, rather than a set of rigid requirements. Organizational Studies will provide focused guidance in creating Concentration Pathways, and will work with students to change their Pathways if that becomes necessary. But, like any good map, the Concentration Pathway is designed to help students make the most of their journey through the world of Organizational Studies.
Copyright 2002, The Regents of the University of Michigan