Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University
Organizations and Their Effectiveness
July 7 through July 20, 2024
Directors
Robert Gibbons (rgibbons@mit.edu), economics and management, MIT
Woody Powell (woodyp@stanford.edu), education and sociology, Stanford University
ABOUT THE CASBS SUMMER INSTITUTE
The sixth CASBS summer institute on Organizations and Their Effectiveness will occur from July 7 through July 20, 2024, at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences on the Stanford University campus. Fifteen fellowships will be awarded to cover tuition, room and board, and travel.
There are two important dates in the application process: (1) the complete application, including the letter of support, is due December 13, 2023; and (2) fellowship awards will be announced by email no later than January 29, 2024.
TOPICS AND PURPOSE
Organizations are all around us: not just firms, plants, and work groups, but also hospitals, schools, and governments. Furthermore, by construing an “organization” as something that can be first organized and then managed, one can also include certain relationships — not only between firms (such as some hand-in-glove supply relationships, joint ventures, and alliances) but also between a government and a firm (such as some regulatory relationships and public-private partnerships).Indeed, noting that the examples above are all opportunities to collaborate, one can move beyond formal organization charts and formal contracts to include communities, networks, social movements and other less formal institutions as organized activities.
Given such a broad domain, a huge fraction of economic activity, as well as much political and social activity, is undertaken in, with, or by organizations. Put differently, if organizations are how we collaborate, it is important to get them right! For example, the gains from improving production activities and supply chains in low-income countries could be enormous. Also, learning from the “bright spots” among hospitals, schools, and governments, and understanding how these successes might be spread, could be immensely valuable. Finally, although industrial productivity in high-income countries may seem mundane to some, improving the effectiveness of such firms might nonetheless allow substantial improvements in the quality of life—both for the workforces in these firms and for the communities that experience the products and externalities these firms produce.
If organizational effectiveness is so important for innovation and social impact, one might think that academics would be studying the issue actively. To some extent, this is true, but the field is badly fragmented: different disciplines operate mostly in isolation; many professional schools focus on only their own kind of organization (e.g., hospitals, schools, public agencies, businesses). Meanwhile, social-science departments often regard organizational effectiveness as outside their purview; and doctoral training in professional schools sometimes lacks the depth available in social-science departments.
In response to this situation, the 2024 summer institute will begin with presentations about how economics and sociology approach the study of organizations (with other disciplines to follow). In addition, to build community, there will be frequent group discussions and projects (“hacks”) on thorny organizational ideas and problems, as well as dinner conversations with scholars and practitioners who have been deeply involved in the worlds of politics, law, journalism and business. In sum, the first week will be a very intensive experience.
Besides the two directors, the full-time participants in the first week will be young scholars (ranging from advanced assistant professors to late-stage graduate students) drawn from a wide range of disciplines and fields (not just economics and sociology; typically also political science, communications, organizational behavior and strategy), whose careers studying organizations are underway, and who have demonstrated an interest in and an aptitude for expanding their thinking about organizations towards other disciplines.
The first week will also include a “guest chef”—a senior scholar studying organizations from outside economics and sociology—who will visit for about 24 hours, typically involving both lectures and a hack.
The second week will be in two phases. On Monday and Tuesday July 15 and 16, the full-time participants and spirit of the first week will continue. There will probably be a second guest chef, representing another discipline or methodology.
Then, on Wednesday, July 17 through Friday, July 19, participants from the fifth summer institute (2023) will be invited back to CASBS to join in a convocation with the 2024 cohort, concluding with dinner on Friday. Finally, on Saturday, July 20, the group will return to being just the directors and the 2024 full-time participants, with the institute concluding over lunch.
The second part of the second week (Wednesday, July 17 through Friday, July 19) may also include a few members of the first four cohorts (2016–19). Naturally, members of the early cohorts are now further along in their careers than the new participants in 2024 will be—albeit less far along than the senior scholars who serve as guest chefs. Also, members of the early cohorts represent a wide range of the disciplines and fields that study organizations and other organized activities; for example, fewer than half are from economics or sociology. The convocation on July 17–19 of the 2024 summer institute may leverage the expertise of the early cohorts to emphasize additional disciplines and fields studying organizations (perhaps in smaller versions of the guest-chef role described above).
ELIGIBILITY
Those eligible to apply include junior faculty, postdoctoral fellows and very advanced graduate students from the social and behavioral sciences and allied professional schools. We are also interested in applications from scholars affiliated with four-year colleges and with colleges and universities attended predominately by minority students.
Accepted applicants will be expected to arrive prepared by having read a syllabus of about 20 key papers and surveys.
LOCATION
The Center is located on a beautiful hillside overlooking the Stanford University campus. Comfortable studies in restful surroundings will be provided.
SUPPORT
Admitted applicants will be offered a fellowship that will cover all expenses, including transportation (within the usual university-mandated constraints on travel expenses). Lodging will be provided and meals will be covered. Though not required, any financial contribution from a participant’s home institution would be greatly appreciated.
APPLICATION
The application consists of: (i) a cover letter providing contact information and the name of the recommendation writer; (ii) a curriculum vitae (for faculty, this should include not only research but also courses taught; for doctoral students, not only research but also courses taken); (iii) a two-page essay explaining how the institute will advance the applicant’s research; and (iv) one letter of support, which will be treated confidentially and submitted
through our secure application system.
Application portal can be accessed at
https://applycasbs.stanford.edu/summerapplication/
Organizations, Occupations and Work 