Course description
Title of the Teaching Unit
Sociology and Organizations
Code of the Teaching Unit
12USH40
Academic year
2026 - 2027
Cycle
Number of credits
5
Number of hours
60
Quarter
1
Weighting
Site
Anjou
Teaching language
French
Teacher in charge
DUTERME Tom
Objectives and contribution to the program
This course introduces students to sociological and anthropological perspectives on organizations. It invites them to examine contemporary managerial and organizational practices through the contributions of major figures in the social sciences, drawing on both classical traditions and current approaches. Students will be encouraged to adopt a reflexive and critical stance towards power relations, symbolic dynamics, mechanisms of legitimation, and forms of work organization, collective action, and emerging alternatives. Through this journey, the course provides an analytical framework for grasping the growing complexity of organizations in a context shaped by profound ecological, social, technological, and political transformations and challenges. It also seeks to reaffirm the importance of sociological and anthropological thought in management education, positioning these disciplines as essential resources for understanding, situating, and transforming professional realities.
Prerequisites and corequisites
No prerequisites or co-requisites are required for this course unit.
Content
The first part of the course is devoted to the theoretical foundations of the sociology of organizations and markets. The second part explores more recent contributions to the sociology of organizations through an examination of contemporary research. Finally, the third part draws on these sociological insights to shed light on six objectives faced by contemporary organizations: profitability, efficiency, innovation, democracy, sustainability, and stability.
Teaching methods
- Interactive, in-person ex cathedra lectures combining theoretical content with empirical illustrations
- Readings of press articles, academic papers, and institutional publications illustrating concepts covered in class
- Exercises or questions to prepare individually, systematically discussed and corrected collectively
Assessment method
Formative assessment:
Formative assessment takes place throughout the course through questions and activities (Wooclap, Moodle, etc.).
Final assessment:
The final examination takes place in person, is closed-book, and does not permit the use of AI.
It consists of three parts: multiple-choice questions on the theoretical content, one or two open-ended questions, and a text analysis similar to those carried out collectively at the end of each class.
References
The Sociology and Organizations course page on Moodle (https://moodle.ichec.be) includes:
- PowerPoint slides, with or without comments
- Articles, bulletins, various reports, and videos
- Formative assessment exercises
Bibliographical references are available on Moodle.