Syllabus

LEARNING OUTCOMES

This course will provide the students with a solid understanding of the foundations of organizing, organizational forms, and organizational phenomena of business. After participating in the course, students will (1) be able to distinguish between various forms of organizing of business 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 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: 28.02.2023 - 25.05.2023

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 is determined and shaped by a multitude of economic, information, and technological conditions which are constantly evolving. In this course, we will use economic, organization, and strategy theories to analyze organizing at the macro- and meso-level. Theories are valuable for the analyst and manager because most macro- and meso-level organizational phenomena and problems are unique and cannot be understood nor solved by simple rules of thumb. At the macro-level markets, industries, value chains, and business ecosystems are unique forms of organizing business. These are shaped by economic, information, technological, and socio-economic properties prevalent and evolving in each setting, including among others demand, and supply, rules and responsibilities of business, digital technologies and data, transaction costs, complementarities, resource dependencies, and information asymmetries. To enable progress and efficiencies in organizing of business, modularity, standards, and interoperability are central. At the meso-level we can distinguish between various kinds of business organizations, i.e. start-ups, multinational firms, specialized manufacturing firms, consultancy firms, and software firm, state-owned companies, public organizations, and non-profits. These meso-level organizational forms entail a multiplicity of goals and tasks and differ in size and internal organizing and coordinating structure. The advancements in digital technologies have enabled new forms of organizing of business and markets, including multi-sided platforms, digital applications, and data-mediating organizations to evolve. To understand the organization of business today we hence need to consider both the macro- and the meso-levels of organizing, how these are interrelated, and the mechanism that shapes and will come to shape the organizing of business today and in the future.

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

12 Responsible Production and Consumption

FURTHER INFORMATION

Further Information

• valid for whole curriculum period:

  Teaching Language : English

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

  Enrollment :

  Registration for course will take place on Sisu (sisu.aalto.fi).

Description