Organization Studies

Over the last two decades the study of organizations and strategy has undergone a series of fundamental shifts in terms of theoretical frameworks, research methodologies and issues. The field has become much more 'pluralistic' in terms of theories and research agenda. This proliferation in theory and practice, reflect underlying changes taking place in organizational forms and institutional settings in which they are located. The focus of organization studies is to map these shifts and to assess their implications for the various components of organizations - actors, practices and activities. In this vein courses and research is directed to explore the actors, their activities and the organization/community in which they are embedded. The program targets those plan to work as experts in private organizations, act as advisors/consultants, or go on to educate new business leaders. Students with various backgrounds including business administration, economics, anthropology, psychology, sociology and politics are encouraged to apply. 

The program offers an inter-disciplinary curriculum, emphasizes both theory and practice and employs latest research in related fields. Seminar courses also aim to enhance the ability to develop academically and managerially relevant research questions. This is supplemented with a set of quantitative and qualitative methods courses. Solid training in statistical methods and applications as well as programming skills offers a distinct advantage to analyze data and to develop models. The program draws upon the resources of several disciplines within social sciences to deepen our understanding of the complex relationship between society, its organizations and institutions. This approach promotes a research agenda that incorporates both micro and macro levels of analysis. Our graduates emerge with a strong foundation in organizational theory, strategy and sociology of work, thereby. 

The OS promotes creative and independent researchers who can craft and pursue their own research agendas. Current faculty research interests and projects revolve around following topics: communities of practice, open innovation, clusters, managerial elites, corporate governance, social media, social networks, management ideas, financialization, internationalization strategies, state-business relations, political economy, social movements and so on in research sites like Turkish banking industry, Finnish innovation clusters, LinkedIn, soft drink industry, Open Source Software, Turkish SMEs, culture industry, media-industrial complex, energy sector.