Credits: 6
Schedule: 26.02.2019 - 01.04.2019
Contact information for the course (applies in this implementation):
Kirsti Iivonen
Office hours: meet after the lectures or contact
by email
Teaching Period (valid 01.08.2018-31.07.2020):
Teaching period IV (Spring 2019) Otaniemi campus
Teaching period IV (Spring 2020 Otaniemi campus
Learning Outcomes (valid 01.08.2018-31.07.2020):
By the end of the course, the students will be able to
- understand the differences of leading and working in physically proximate teams vs. geographically dispersed teams that may take many different forms
- identify critical success factors and challenges of online collaboration and virtual teams
- show detailed understanding of the best practices in managing virtual teams and online collaboration projects
- structure, implement and complete a virtual project in an international online collaboration context
- apply skills and capabilities for collaborating in networked teams that work across time, space and organizational boundaries using new collaboration platforms into the virtual team work
Content (valid 01.08.2018-31.07.2020):
The course consists of two parts running parallel. The first one provides an overview of the global online working environment and collaboration practices. The topics include: an introduction into team work and particularly virtual team work; knowledge sharing and team communication; managing yourself and engaging culturally diverse employees; managing conflicts in team work; and online tools and digital work. The second part involves a team project in which students collaborate virtually with students from other international universities. This part allows the students to apply their learnings in a project that simulates real-business-world virtual work.
Assessment Methods and Criteria (valid 01.08.2018-31.07.2020):
1. Lectures
2. Classroom and virtual space contribution 50%
3. Virtual team project written report and results presentation 50%
Elaboration of the evaluation criteria and methods, and acquainting students with the evaluation (applies in this implementation):
Lectures and classroom
activity 15%
Learning journal - reflective
essay based on literature and lectures 25%
Virtual team project
60%:
- written report and
results presentation 40% (presentation,
if feasible for the class size) - individual contribution
in the virtual team project 20%
Workload (valid 01.08.2018-31.07.2020):
18h attending the lectures
10h engaging in independent learning: studying the literature and writing a reflective essay
132h carrying out a global virtual team project with students from other universities, consisting of
- structuring the project 12 h
- collecting data about the case company 20 h
- analyzing the data 35 h
- participating in virtual team meetings 10 h
- preparing a written report of the results 35 h
- preparing a presentation about the results of the project work, presenting in classroom 20 h
Study Material (valid 01.08.2018-31.07.2020):
Articles and course materials accessible at the course website.
Course Homepage (valid 01.08.2018-31.07.2020):
https://mycourses.aalto.fi/course/search.php?search=71C09000
Grading Scale (valid 01.08.2018-31.07.2020):
0 (fail) - 5 (excellent)
Further Information (valid 01.08.2018-31.07.2020):
The course content has a multidisciplinary dimension while it links to topics such as leadership, management communication, international business, and digital communication. Max. 50 students will be admitted to the course. Priority is given to the BSc students.
- Teacher: Iivonen Kirsti