With a worldwide explosion of organizations and organizing, our society has transformed into an 'organizational society'. As a result, understanding organizations is essential to grasping societal dynamics, just as insights into society are crucial for understanding processes of organizing.
Research within the department of Organization Sciences (ORG) of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam focuses on the intersection of organization and society. It shows how our ways of organizing are intertwined with, and interact with, social developments.
At its core, the discipline of organization sciences focuses on different forms of organization and organizing, on questions about why and how organizational processes are developed, implemented, and evaluated by their members, and how organizations are influenced by societal developments and vice versa. In a dynamic and increasingly (digitally) interconnected society of organizations, we see the challenge of gaining a better understanding of the connections and dynamics that are typical of contemporary forms of organization. Therefore, the OPOS (Organizations and Processes of Organizing in Society) research programme is interested in interdependence, conflict and cooperation, as well as instability, resilience and change. In our research, we take a distinct social-scientific approach:
- Friction between organization and disorganization
- Actor-oriented and context-sensitive
- Social Science Methods
- Engaged science
The central goal of the research programme is to gain a better understanding of the way in which organizations, groups, networks and individuals interact with and relate to each other (i.e., interdependence), sometimes harmoniously, often disharmoniously (i.e., (in)stability), in order to realize organizational goals.
OPOS consists of five research clusters, which offer connection and space for further specialization within specific research approaches. The five research clusters are:
- Collaboration and conflict between individuals and within teams;
- Political, cultural and emotional dynamics of organizational actors;
- Organizational dynamics and inter-organizational processes within and between organizations, and
- Cultural dynamics and organizational change
- Organizing societal resilience
For more information about the research clusters of the Department of Organization Sciences, please refer to our research page.
EDUCATION: ONE BACHELOR'S DEGREE, TWO MASTER'S DEGREES, AND MORE
- The Bachelor’s programme Bestuurs- en organsatiewetenschap (Public Administration and Organization Sciences) takes a critical look at the functioning of organizations.
- The Master's programme Beleid, communicatie en organisatie (BCO, Policy, Communication and Organization) covers business strategies, relationships between organizations, decision-making processes and the role of people in companies and institutions.
- The Master's programme, Culture, Organization and Management (COM) investigates the challenges and specific issues related to culture and identity in the changing world of management and organization.
In addition, we provide education in the SBI programme of the Faculty of Science, in the research master's programme Social Sciences Digital Society and within VU Amsterdam for Professionals.
Please refer to this page for detailed information about our educational programmes. Follow @OrgVu on Twitter!