Very boring

This is highly theoretical and entirely dull. I am a professional with 20 years of corporate experience, so I at least have context for what is presented, and it's still boring as heck. I can't imagine being a student with no experience. Not to mention, most of the case studies are from educational settings, so if this isn't where you work or what interests you, then you will be further lulled into a stupor.

I took this to fill some gaps in my knowledge about organizational frameworks and I'm not taking away much. Quit this after the 6th lesson. Essentially, now I have a couple terms to use for things that I observe, but zero practical application to influence any aspect of how I work.

Professor Daniel McFarland of Stanford University, deliver here an inspiring and attention-grabbing course about how to find structured keys and solutions for an environment where most organizational problems are distinctive to the circumstances and cannot be elucidated by simple click.

The eleven weeks of materials was indeed long and personally very difficult to absorb, but the final reward is 100% worth it!!

I am highly thankful to Professor Daniel McFarland, for allowing me to be part of his class and sharing us (students) generously his extensive knowledge, theories and thoughts about new ways to enlighten work environment, and understand in a systematic, practical manner & the behind-the-curtain; the industrialized world we are living.

For geographical reasons, it will be technically impossible for me to attend Professor Daniel McFarland classes at Stanford University and thanks to his generous patience, engagement and priceless time to prepare this exceptional course,

I am really honored and proud to have joined this outstanding and must learn course here on coursera!!!

Definitively a stellar 5 Star rating!!!

Found this to be an exceptional course which introduced me to theories for analyzing organizations. The material was challenging, thought-provoking, and highly practical. As an educator in the public school system, I could see how decisions were influenced by many factors. I would like to meet with Professor McFarland one day. I have a few other personal experienced based theories relatinging to analysis of organization , nuances of some presented, that I would like to share with him. I am especially interested in the impact of the consumer on shaping organizations. But I sense the consumer is just lumped in as a member of the environment. The information age empowers the consumer providing greater choice and opportunities for disruptive innovations. I would like to see students wield this influence to bring education into the 21st Century.Professor McFarland, Thank you for your fine work and willingness to share.Robert Schenker: Robert.schenker@gmail.com

An excellent introduction and analysis on the the very essence of organizations. The course is well structured and presented. One may argue that there is lots of theory and material, especially if references and external information are followed and researched. This, in my point of view, is not a minus (however, I'm am used to such an approach given a PhD background). One point of improvement: all theory is accompanied by case-studies and practical examples. Most of them, however, are drawn from the US experience and reality - none really from an international perspective (with the exceptions of the Cuba missile crisis and of Google - an international "icon" anyhow). More intenationally-drawn examples would have been a plus, given the very cultural and nationality-wise mix of students who sign up for MOOCs. Thank you. Dimitris, Athens, Greece.

Well-paced and genuinely personable delivery of course content. Highly relevant theories and models; indeed, I most appreciated the inter- and cross-disciplinary approach used to better understand human and organizational relationships (in organizations and within and between markets and sub-sectors of the economy). This course met its goal of provided learners with a very wide range of theories and models to understand what can sometimes be a complex web of interactions between supporters and detractors, competitors and collaborators. Truly well worth the investment and as long as one takes good notes throughout each lecture and invaluable resource to draw on for understanding and managing the various relationships that exist within and between organizations.

Excellent course for understanding how organizations work, function, react to problems, change. Very important for managers or business leaders. A large portion of the cases used were from the education field like schools, and universities but the examples can applied to all organizations whether profit or non profit. The lectures were very informative and entertaining. The quizzes were challenging and the final was even more challenging. Thank you Coursera, Stanford, Dr. Dan McFarland for this very beneficial course.

I have many years of experience working at various organizations, however, it was very useful and exciting to learn about different and such complicated paths in the process of decision making. This course has allowed me to gain different perspective and start analyzing in absolute new way organizations/decision making groups with which I am working at this moment.

It also helps to make practical steps in order to succeed in the process of decision making.

Thank you

For a long time, a dreamt with this kind of course and this level of teaching. I believe that this course represents the magna opus of what Coursera's mission fosters to be. It is enlightening, complete and passionate in so many ways that make this intangible asset almost physical. My only advice is, just take this course and embrace what you will learn because it can actually change you and luckily your environment as well.

The course is excellent, it covers several theories about organizational analysis with various case studies. The most interesting thing for me is the constant concern to make practical knowledge, identifying when a theory is more applicable and what course of action a manager should take in each case. In the end, we have a series of tools that can be used in whole or in part, depending on the case in question.

The content was very insightful, it provided me with some lenses (as promised) to analyse different organizational issues and have deeper understanding of possible strategies for me as a change agent. The two things I've missed were 1) some peer-graded assignment in addition to quizzes and 2) some list for future investigation/reading. Maybe you would consider adding those to future courses. Thank you!

I am deeply satisfied with the course! The materials/lectures helped me to understand the basics thoroughly. Particularly the case studies are my real interest. I wish if there was a one big case study as an example where all the theories in this course are covered. I am applying these theories in my current organization and I got a positive feedback..! Thanks Coursera!

Interesting course. Provides good insights to the way different organizations work. As a result, when I recently was looking at a start-up, it was easy to identify the different players and understand the nature of the organization. Hopefully, I will be able to use some of the skills learned in the course to help move the organization in a successful direction.

It is an excellent course, with a lot of information that can help you, on your management skills and better comprehension of how organizations can be, apart of what might guide the organization into a new way.

I recommend this course to anyone who wants to improve their management abilities and/or those who are willing to comprehend how organizations behave.

This Course is really a good one. A large number of concepts are discussed in this course and moreover the case studies provided are really the USP of this course. This course not only provides with the theoretical knowledge, but also helps to understand the practical applications of the theories. I would love to recommend this course to everyone.

In my profession as a general manager of a company I can identify a lot of the theories in this course when dealing with both internals of my organization, and even more our customer organizations, which are both privately owned companies and public organizations. I can definitely recommend this course to any managers out there.

Incredible useful course. A detailed breakdown of all the major Organisational Analysis models, how they relate to one another, and which one is the most relevant in any given business sector. Would thoroughly recommend this course to anyone looking to understand why the organisation they work for makes the decisions they do.

Great course ! Great teacher !

Good combination of theory as wel as practice through case studies. Students are also exposed to variety of case studies of US Corporates / Universities / Government which provides an opportunity to learn about US Management Systems.

I am lucky to have come across this course.

Excellent course. It has provided me very strong understanding through various models and ways of thinking about organizational dynamics and decision making. I wish I had had this course decades ago. It is really excellent. Prof. Macfarland is very clear, honest and insightful. I am very satisfied.

Incredibly enriching program by prof Daniel MacFarland! Brilliant! You get to dive into nearly a dozen of organizational theories and learn when and how to apply them as part of your management toolbox. Tons of use cases and real life examples, Very well done. :) Do yourself a favor and enroll!

I work in HR, from time to time, I need to discuss with potential candidates on how our organization differs from his/her current employers or other employers in the market. This course definitely gives me the extra tools I need to better analyse between organizations in the industry. Thanks

The course allows to master different theories that can be give value in day-by-day work on how and why organizations behave in specific ways. The opportunity to review the materials and to take the course in any time give all the necessary flexibility to study the subjects.

Very interesting and useful class. If you are interested in strategic view of organizations and learn practical frameworks of analysis this is the course you want to take. Special thank you for Professor McFarland for conducting the class in very friendly and clear manor.

Structured and well designed, comprehensive and thorough, both theoretical and practical, personally pretty enjoy the sections of forums and screen-side chats making the learning enriched and engaging. Would be even more fantastic to see updates over recent 2 years.

Big picture insights we can use in order to understand how an organization thinks and functions.Just finished the course and I am looking forward to review the course again; in order to truly understand how it takes to become an essential part of organization..