Study programme
Understanding organizations from the inside out
Culture, Organization and Management (COM) places organizational problems and management issues in a wider social and cultural context. Organizations are hubs in society: social structures are supported by organizations and social change is mediated by and chanelled through them.
Looking at the big picture, processes of globalization cannot be dissociated from international corporations and institutions; and the increase in multicultural interaction is particularly evident in commercial relations, corporate collaborations and in the workplace. At a more detailed level, change in organizations not only has far-reaching consequences for staff, products and services but also for the ways in which society is organized and how power, work and prosperity are distributed. In short, the socio-cultural aspects of organizations have both economic and social consequences.
The programme focuses on qualitative research methods which typify the ethnographic approach. Students may also conduct research for their thesis in the Netherlands or abroad, notably in Southeast Asia, Southern Africa or the Caribbean.
What you can expect from the programme:
- Critical analysis of conventional organization and management practices
- An interdisciplinary and cultural perspective
- Exploration of organizational and management processes in cultural contexts, within Europe and beyond
- A strong emphasis on fieldwork
- Getting to know organizations from the bottom up and inside out
- Intensive training in analytical writing
