Major IB / IBE Organization

What is Organization?

What is Organization? A field of scientific study, evidently, just like Microeconomics or Logistics. But Organization also refers to a most significant phenomenon in our economy and our society: the organization. Organizations abound in the world around us. They influence and structure our life more than we may generally be aware of. Organizations are not only for-profit firms, that produce goods and services we may be in need of. Organizations also include schools, hospitals, churches, sports and leisure clubs, student associations, political parties, interest groups, pension funds, the army, the government, the United Nations. Apart from all these formal organized activities, life is also replete with the influence of informal collectivities to which you belong, either by choice or not. Examples are your family, friendship groups, social class and the nation to which you belong. Your membership of these collectivities can profoundly enhance or constrain your options for development and advancement in life.

People across the globe face the challenge to plan and coordinate activities in organizations as effective and efficient as possible. Studying Organization can be of great help to improve this process once you start your career. Thus, Organization as a scientific study is particularly interested in why, how and when individuals join efforts to reach a shared goal. Recurrent elements in any definition of ‘organization’seem to be: multiple individuals, coordinated action, a common goal and enduring existence.
Central questions that have occupied organization scientists over time are:

(1) Why do organizations exist?
(2) How can we classify organizational types?
(3) What makes an organization effective and efficient?
(4) Why do some organizations fail where others succeed?
(5) How should organizations be designed and managed?

If we look at the breadth of questions posed, it should not come as a surprise that Organization draws upon a multitude of disciplines like sociology, anthropology, economics, psychology, political science and even evolutionary biology. Organization is a truly multidisciplinary subject.

What can you do with an organization major?

If you choose to forego a Master’s study and want to enter the job market right after your Bachelor’s degree, a major in organization offers you a number of possibilities. As with any other generalist area of study, organization does prepare you for a wide range of interesting jobs. Professional profiles include: management consultant (both externally, when you will be working for a consultancy firm, and internally, when you analyze and facilitate in-company development programmes), HRM manager, Organizational Development manager, and, of course, general manager, at all levels, from middle management to executive board level. Often, our graduates start their career in another functional areas as Marketing, Finance, Logistics, before entering the more general higher mangerial echelons. The alumni section of our website may proffer you with instructive testimonials of the wide array of the careers upon which our students have embarked.

If you choose to continue your studies at the Master’s level, a major in organization offers you ample opportunities for further study. Since organization explores a wide range of issues affecting the internal and external functioning of firms, combining it with a more narrowly specialized major would be a desirable option for most organization students. If you choose to persist with organization, the Master’s level courses in Maastricht offer a more specialized focus on specific areas of organization, such as leadership, change and learning. If, on the other hand, you choose for a different major in your continuing study, a organization major can be usefully combined with any of the available specialties, such as marketing and logistics, but also accounting and finance.

Courses of the program

Click here for a brief overview of the courses that form the core of the program.

Contact

For any inquiries, please contact the coordinator of the Bachelor Organization track, Dr. Ad van Iterson at the Organization & Strategy Department. Telephone: (00-31)-(0)43-3883764; E-mail: a.vaniterson@maastrichtuniversity.nl.