Syllabus

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:

1. demonstrate knowledge and comprehension of the seminal and latest academic research in organizational design, organizational culture, organizational practices, organizational change, and strategic entrepreneurship;
2. analyze, evaluate, and reflect upon how established companies and startups can design and implement processes and practices that allow them to adapt to changing environments and achieve sustainability;
3. analyze, evaluate, and reflect upon the mindset, skills, and capabilities employees and managers require working in and design, respectively, adaptive and creative organizations;
4. apply analytical techniques, tools and frameworks taught in the class on a company-based group project to produce original work in evaluating how a company addresses its redesigning challenges; and
5. reflect upon how you personally can act as a designer of organizational practices that foster creativity and change within existing companies or startups.

Furthermore, through the completion of this course, students will have practiced:

• Analytical skills in defining and solving problems
• Decision-making skills
• Research skills
• Reflection skills
• Learning by doing from a real business experience
• Group management and teamwork skills 
• Communication and presentation skills
• Networking among Finnish companies

 This course will be particularly valuable to students who are interested in business development functions, consulting in change management and strategy implementation, organizational transformation, development of work practices, and human resource functions. The course enables students to be more effective designers of coordination and change to any organizations they join, whether large, established companies or startups.

Credits: 5

Schedule: 10.01.2023 - 17.02.2023

Teacher in charge (valid for whole curriculum period):

Teacher in charge (applies in this implementation): Frank Martela

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:

  In this course, the focus is on developing knowledge, competences, and practical experience on how established and nascent companies can foster their adaptability and creativity by reconfiguring their structures and practices toward value-creating and value-protecting opportunities. Drawing on the perspectives of organizational design, organizational culture, organizational practices, and strategic entrepreneurship students will learn to apply frameworks and tools needed to: a) analyze the impact of organizational structures, organizational cultures, and practices on organizational adaptability and creativity, b) design organizational structures and cultures that foster and maintain adaptive and creative ways of working, and c) organize and coordinate bottom-up initiatives to facilitate change. The course acknowledges that and explores how both employees (bottom-up processes) and managers (top-down processes) are equally involved in this process by employing their agency.

Assessment Methods and Criteria

• valid for whole curriculum period:

  Attendance is not compulsory. There are two forms of assessment with which the students need to engage to pass the course: 

  a) Individual-level assessment based on the submission of individual essays  (50% of the final grade)

  b) Group-level assessment based on contribution and participation in a group project (50% of the final grade)

  The evaluation criteria of the submitted work (individual essays and deliverable of the group project) for the assessment of this course include four areas: understanding, depth of knowledge, structure, and overall evaluation. Each criterion is of equal importance and weight in calculating the final grade of each assessment. Each criterion is assessed on a scale from 0 (0-49%) to 5 (90-100%). Non-submitted essays are graded with 0.

Workload

• valid for whole curriculum period:

  Attendance is not compulsory.

  - Contact hours: 22 hours (10x2 hours of teaching sessions; 1x2 coaching on group project)
  - Group assessment: 55-60 hours
  - Individual assessment: 15-20 hours
  - Self-study: 30-35 hours

DETAILS

Substitutes for Courses

• valid for whole curriculum period:

  Substitutes for Courses

Prerequisites

• valid for whole curriculum period:

  Prerequisites

SDG: Sustainable Development Goals

8 Decent Work and Economic Growth

9 Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure

17 Partnerships for the Goals

FURTHER INFORMATION

Further Information

• valid for whole curriculum period:

  Teaching Language : English

  Teaching Period : 2022-2023 Spring III - IV
  2023-2024 Spring III - IV

  Enrollment :

  Registration for Courses: In the academic years 2022-2024, enrollment to this course will ONLY take place through SISU (sisu.aalto.fi) instead of WebOodi. The number of students is limited to 120 because of the course's learning objectives and activities. The following categories of students have priority to enroll for this course:

  1) Students of the Master's Programme in Industrial Engineering and Management,

  2) Students of the Master's Programme in Information Networks

  3) Students minoring in Creativity and Venturing, Strategy and Corporate Renewal, People, Organizing and Change, and Startup Minor.

  All other students* will be chosen through a separate enrollment process through SISU and before the course starts. Potential students are asked to answer the enrolment questions through SISU.

  *Bachelor students (including exchange bachelor level students) will be enrolled ONLY if they have completed their bachelor's thesis. A limited number of places are available for exchange students who are at the master's level of their studies. A few places are also open for Open University students. Please note that this is an advanced master's level course, thus students need to have basic knowledge regarding strategic management and strategy literature.

Description