Topic outline

  • General

    Course instructor: Sarri Nykänen

    Teaching period: Summer

    Workload: 3-5 credits

    Format: independent readings, discussions in small groups, online forum discussions, and individual essays

    Content:

    Welcome to the summer course on institutions and how to change them.

    This course is intended for Master level students and students close to finishing their Bachelor degree.

    The course is structured into a 3-credit module (in June, units 1 to 4) and a 2-credit module (completion by end of August, units 5 to 8). You can sign up for either the 3-credit module only or to both modules.

    During the 3-credit course in June, we will start with an introduction of institutions and institutional theory. Then, we review the long-standing debate of whether the purpose of a company is to serve its shareholders or stakeholders. We learn how algorithms and AI have become sociotechnical institutions that shape our daily lives and why they can be so prone to bias. In the last unit of the 3-credit course, we learn about the emergence and development of sustainability institutions.

    In each unit, you will first read the course materials independently. Next, you discuss the articles in a small group of 3 to 5 students and submit a group report of your discussion. Third, you post an individual question and/or answer to the discussion forum of the unit. Finally, you write an individual essay on the unit article(s).

    In an additional 2 credit part of the course, we discuss theories on changing institutions. Firstly, we discuss framing strategies. Next, we learn how and why to organize free spaces to change wider institutional arrangements, how actors can work on organizational boundaries and practices to reshape industries and organizational fields, and how you can utilize and shape perceptions of time to promote a new institutional order. Finally, we also discuss the role of resources in exerting institutional influence and how coalitions form and acquire resources.

    In each unit, you read the course material, post a question and/or answer on the discussion forum of the unit, and then write a short individual essay on the unit article(s).

    Have a look at the syllabus before the start of the course.