Business is a key institution in all societies, though sociology recognizes its presence in odd ways. Generally, the social sciences recognize orientation toward profit in the breech, chiefly when they consider nonprofit organizations. There are social scientific studies of life in corporations but they are often regarded as investigations of live in organizations in general. There is work on how the economy works, and that gets us further down the road toward understanding how business works but misses or assumes whether it matters that people are working in corporations. The sense in that position—and there is much sense in it—is that bureaucracies have a great deal in common whether they seek monetary profit or not. The greater sense is that for-profit organizations face environmental influences that non-profits don’t face. The lack of sense in it is that there is more variation within the category "for-profit" than there is between categories that comprise all organizations.

Some valuable work is available. We will read, discuss, and write some key statements concerning business, focusing chiefly but not exclusively on America. Two themes transect the readings: first to understand the relationships between business and other parts of society and second to understand the variation in what appears to be natural about how business is done.

The requirements are to read, talk, and write. Read all the work. Talk about the work every class period. I do not lecture. Some times I’ll say a few words at the beginning of class, and I’ll certainly participate in the discussion, but I believe lectures are rarely warranted in graduate classes. I’m more interested in the collectively creative exposition of the ideas. That only happens when informed people discuss and argue about ideas. The writing requirements are these:

Analytic memos. Write one every week, one page long. We’ll use these memos to organize discussions. They should be a two or three paragraph critical commentary on one or a few issues raised by the readings. Do not spend your space summarizing, beyond a few sentences that might be necessary to begin a paragraph. End the memo with a question (i.e. a sentence with a question mark), so that your key issue is clear. You should make a copy for everyone in the class, including me, and bring them to class every week. We will take a few minutes before class to read over the memos. Because the memos will play an important role in organizing our talk, there’s no point in handing them in late.

Paper. Fifteen to twenty pages on something that interests you that is in some clear way connected to the substance of the course. I say 15-20 pages because if you start something new, which I presume most folks will, then it will be impossible to write a good, full paper in one semester. You can do a good job of starting a paper without the pressure of producing length. Of course, the work could be the beginning of a qualifying paper, or a chapter if you’re dissertating.

Please understand that incompletes are unacceptable to me. I do not give them.

Following are the books you should buy. They’ll also be on reserve that the Livingston Library.

• Charles Perrow, selections from Society of Organizations.