Learning Journal: The Sociology Book

Person surrounded by interconnected social structure diagrams

A reflection on The Sociology Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained Introduction Reading The Sociology Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained changed the way I understand sociology. Before engaging with the book, I largely viewed sociology as the academic study of society, institutions, social classes, and group behaviour. While this definition was technically correct, it did not … Continue reading Learning Journal: The Sociology Book

Integration, Regulation, Communication, and Social Rupture

Person on ledge supported by connected colleagues

Émile Durkheim’s Suicide through organizational behaviour, conflict management, and the Standing on the Ledge framework Introduction Émile Durkheim’s Suicide: A Study in Sociology, first published in 1897, was a major attempt to demonstrate that even an intensely personal act could be studied partly as a social fact. Durkheim examined differences in suicide rates among groups … Continue reading Integration, Regulation, Communication, and Social Rupture

From Personal Trouble to Organizational Issue

Person sitting on bench holding tablet with digital network connections projecting icons around.

C. Wright Mills’ The Sociological Imagination through communication, conflict management, and the Standing on the Ledge framework Introduction In The Sociological Imagination, published in 1959, C. Wright Mills argues that people can understand their lives more clearly when they connect personal biography with social structure and historical change. His best-known distinction is between personal troubles … Continue reading From Personal Trouble to Organizational Issue

Power, Communication, and Conflict Behind the Organizational Chart

Group of men in suits and military uniforms around a digital map table planning strategy

C. Wright Mills’ The Power Elite through an organizational behaviour and Standing on the Ledge perspective Introduction In The Power Elite, published in 1956, sociologist C. Wright Mills argues that the most consequential decisions in American society had become concentrated among leaders occupying the upper levels of three major institutional systems: large corporations, the military … Continue reading Power, Communication, and Conflict Behind the Organizational Chart

Communication, Conflict, and the Institutional Control of Identity

People in uniforms entering Total Institution with conveyor belt stripping personality and stamping uniform IDs

Erving Goffman’s Asylums through an organizational behaviour and Standing on the Ledge perspective Introduction Erving Goffman’s Asylums: Essays on the Social Situation of Mental Patients and Other Inmates examines how people experience life inside what he calls total institutions. These are organizations in which a large portion of a person’s daily life occurs under a … Continue reading Communication, Conflict, and the Institutional Control of Identity

MGT2382 Week 13 Learning Journal: Organizational Change and the Difference Between Movement and Repair

Team meeting on organizational change and accountability with presenter and laptops

Date: Calendar week: August 4-August 10, 2026 Category: Field Lab Learning Journals > MGT2382 Learning Journal Course link: MGT2382 Organizational Behaviour – Week 13: Organizational Change; McShane Chapter 15. Lens: Critical lens: change is not automatically progress; it becomes progress only when it is honest, supported, and connected to real repair. Opening reflection This week’s … Continue reading MGT2382 Week 13 Learning Journal: Organizational Change and the Difference Between Movement and Repair

MGT2382 Week 12 Learning Journal: Organizational Structure and the Shape of Responsibility

Comparison chart showing mechanistic structure with hierarchy and centralized control versus organic structure with decentralized decision-making and teamwork

Date: Calendar week: July 28-August 4, 2026 Category: Field Lab Learning Journals > MGT2382 Learning Journal Course link: MGT2382 Organizational Behaviour – Week 12: Organizational Structure; McShane Chapter 13. Lens: Critical lens: structure is not just a chart; it decides how authority, information, responsibility, and pain move through the organization. Opening reflection This week’s material … Continue reading MGT2382 Week 12 Learning Journal: Organizational Structure and the Shape of Responsibility

MGT2382 Week 11 Learning Journal: Organizational Culture and the Stories a Workplace Actually Lives By

Healthy organizational culture with teamwork and open communication versus toxic organizational culture with micromanagement and burnout.

Date: Calendar week: July 21-July 27, 2026 Category: Field Lab Learning Journals > MGT2382 Learning Journal Course link: MGT2382 Organizational Behaviour – Week 11: Organizational Culture; McShane Chapter 14. Lens: Critical lens: culture is not what an organization claims to value; culture is what people learn will be rewarded, punished, tolerated, and protected. Opening reflection … Continue reading MGT2382 Week 11 Learning Journal: Organizational Culture and the Stories a Workplace Actually Lives By

MGT2382 Week 10 Learning Journal: Leadership, Accountability, and the Weight of Example

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Date: Calendar week: July 14-July 20, 2026 Category: Field Lab Learning Journals > MGT2382 Learning Journal Course link: MGT2382 Organizational Behaviour – Week 10: Leadership; McShane Chapter 12. Lens: Critical lens: leadership is not proven by title, confidence, or image; it is proven by behaviour under pressure. Opening reflection This week’s material on leadership is … Continue reading MGT2382 Week 10 Learning Journal: Leadership, Accountability, and the Weight of Example