Coordination, Control, and the Management of Organizations: Complete Package of Course-Related Materials (in four documents)

Abstract:     
The course Coordination, Control and the Management of Organizations (CCMO) was initiated at the University of Rochester in 1973 by Michael C. Jensen and William H. Meckling. This course became one of the most highly demanded courses at the Simon School of Business and at the Harvard Business School (after it was ported to HBS by Jensen in 1985). As an elective in the second year of the Harvard MBA program, the course regularly attracts between 500 and 600 of the 850 second-year students. At HBS, Karen H. Wruck played a major role in bringing new ideas and materials to the course, especially in the area of corporate governance and control, and in her contributions to the course architecture.

CCMO presents a new theory of organizations that draws on economics, finance, psychology, neuroscience, and human resource management. CCMO is taught by the Organizations & Markets (O&M) Unit at the Harvard Business School which is devoted to the interdisciplinary development of a modern theory of organizations and markets that is useful both to social scientists and managers. The faculty who regularly teach the course are: Michael C. Jensen, George P. Baker, Karen H. Wruck, Carliss Y. Baldwin, and Malcom S. Salter.

In developing our theory, we focus particularly on four interrelated areas: 1) the nature of human beings and their behavior; 2) compensation, career systems, and performance measurement; 3) task structure, organizational boundaries, and technology; and 4) governance, corporate finance, and organizational performance.

The CCMO materials are presented in four electronic documents entitled as follows (you can go directly to each document and its abstract by clicking on the title below):

1. Organizations and Markets: History and Development of the Course and the Field, by Michael C. Jensen, George P. Baker, Carliss Y. Baldwin, and Karen H. Wruck, Dec. 10, 1997 (forthcoming in "The Intellectual Venture Capitalist: John H. McArthur and the Work of the Harvard Business School," 1980-1995, Thomas K. McCraw and Jeffrey L. Cruickshank, eds, (Harvard Business School Press, 1998).

2. Coordination, Control, and the Management of Organizations: Course Notes, by Michael C. Jensen and William H. Meckling, with contributions from George P. Baker and Karen H. Wruck, April 20, 1998, Harvard Business School Working Paper #98-098.

3. Coordination, Control, and the Management of Organizations: Course Content and Materials, by Michael C. Jensen and Karen H. Wruck, April 20, 1998, unpublished manuscript, Harvard Business School.

4. Coordination, Control, and the Management of Organizations: Practice Questions, by Michael C. Jensen, William H. Meckling, George P. Baker, and Karen H. Wruck, with contributions from Carliss Y. Baldwin, and Malcolm S. Salter, April 20, 1998, unpublished manuscript, Harvard Business School.

JEL Classification: A23, D21, D23, D60, G30, J33, J50, L20

Case and Teaching Paper Series