LEARNING OUTCOMES
This course will provide the students with a solid understanding of the foundations of organizing, organizational forms, and organizational phenomena of business, operations, and innovation at the macro- and meso-level. After participating in the course, students will (1) be able to distinguish between various forms of organizing of business, operations, and innovation at the macro- and meso-level; (2) know when a certain form is more suitable and how to organize this form; and (3) be able to assess the effectiveness of current organizing form and develop improvements. Students undertaking this course will become familiar with a series of real-world contemporary organizational phenomena, learn different theoretical perspectives that can elucidate these phenomena, and learn to apply these different ways of seeing and managing organizations to cases. As such this course bridges theory and practice, exposing students to a variety of conceptual tools and ways to evaluate novel situations.
Credits: 5
Schedule: 01.03.2022 - 25.05.2022
Teacher in charge (valid for whole curriculum period):
Teacher in charge (applies in this implementation): Robin Gustafsson
Contact information for the course (applies in this implementation):
CEFR level (valid for whole curriculum period):
Language of instruction and studies (applies in this implementation):
Teaching language: English. Languages of study attainment: English
CONTENT, ASSESSMENT AND WORKLOAD
Content
valid for whole curriculum period:
Organizing of business comes in many forms and at many levels. At the macro-level markets, industries, value-chains, platforms, and business ecosystems are unique forms of organizing. These organizational forms are shaped by economic, information, and socio-economic properties prevalent in each setting, including among others social institutions like norms and rules, technologies used, transaction costs, resource dependencies, and information asymmetries. At the meso-level we can respectively distinguish between various kinds of firms, i.e. start-ups, multinational firms, specialized manufacturing firms, consultancy firms, and software firm, non-profits, and more informal organizing forms, such as innovation communities, and industry associations. These meso-level organizational forms often entail a multiplicity of goals and tasks and differ in size and internal structure. Macro- and meso-level organizational forms shape one another, and develop, evolve, and transform over time respectively. To understand organization of business, operations, and innovation we hence need to consider both the macro and the meso-levels of organizing, how these are interrelated, and the mechanism which shape the specific organizational forms. We will use economic, organizational, and strategy theories to analyze organizing. Theories are valuable for the analyst and manager because most meso- and macro-level organizational phenomena s and problems are unique and cannot be understood nor solved by simple rules of thumb.
Assessment Methods and Criteria
valid for whole curriculum period:
Individual and group assignments, peer-assessments, exam.
Workload
valid for whole curriculum period:
Lectures and workshops 24h, assignments 64h, peer-assessment 6h, self-study and exam 40h
DETAILS
Study Material
valid for whole curriculum period:
Articles, case texts, and videos.
Substitutes for Courses
valid for whole curriculum period:
Prerequisites
valid for whole curriculum period:
FURTHER INFORMATION
Further Information
valid for whole curriculum period:
Teaching Period:
2020-2021 Spring IV-V
2021-2022 Spring IV-V
Course Homepage: https://mycourses.aalto.fi/course/search.php?search=TU-C3022
Registration for Courses: In the academic year 2021-2022, registration for courses will take place on Sisu (sisu.aalto.fi) instead of WebOodi.
- Teacher: Gustafsson Robin