APPLIES TO ACADEMIC YEAR 2016/2017

GRA 6026 Organisation Science

Responsible for the course
Thorvald Hærem

Department
Department of Leadership and Organizational Behaviour

Term
According to study plan

ECTS Credits
6

Language of instruction
English

Introduction
One of the main objectives of this course is to provide the students with an in depth understanding of organisations. Organisations are a main tool that modern society applies to meet the challenges of innovation and resolution of complex tasks. To understand how to organise to resolve the challenges organisations meet is a main focus of this course. The course reviews the main contributions to organization research. Another objective is to provide students with a background to understand the changes in organisational structures that we observe in both the private and in the public sector. Understanding new organisational forms - why they are emerging and which characteristics they bear - are of key importance for managers acting in these sectors. Therefore, the course also aims at giving the students a deeper understanding of the present "experiments" in organisational structures and processes.

Learning outcome
KNOWLEDGE
Understand the concept of Organisations
Know about the fundamental research streams in organisation science
Know how to organize to facilitate the resolution of different types of tasks
Know how to adjust the organisational structure to the influence of different types of environment
Know about the effectiveness of major organisational mechanisms
Know about the workings of major organisational mechanisms such as power, authority and goal setting.

SKILLS
Be able to analyze organisational problems
Be able to identify mismatches in different organisational settings
Know techniques to adjust an organisation to environmental demands
Know techniques to adjust an organisation to internal technological demands
Be able to apply theoretical frameworks to specific organisational problems
Be able to pinpoint generic organisational problems


REFLECTION
Developed a measured understanding about the relevance and scope of organisations
Be able to understand how organisations can analyzed in different perspectives
Have a realistic and empirically based attitude to the strengths and limits of rational organisational theories
Developed a measured and empirically based understanding of how micro and macro conditions interact in organisations and how to analytically disentangle them
Understand how organisation theory is the foundation for leadership and management

Prerequisites

All courses in the Masters programme will assume that students have fulfilled the admission requirements for the programme. In addition, courses in second, third and/or fourth semester can have spesific prerequisites and will assume that students have followed normal study progression. For double degree and exchange students, please note that equivalent courses are accepted.

Compulsory reading
Books:
Scott, W. Richard and Gerald F. Davis. 2014. Organizations and organizing : rational, natural, and open system perspectives. New international ed. Pearson Education

Collection of articles:
Collection of scientific articles will be made available before course start.

Other:
A list of compulsory readings will be provided on It's learning or in class.
During the course there may be hand-outs and other material on additional topics relevant for the course and the examination.


Recommended reading

Course outline
- Introduction, Organisations as rational, natural & open systems
- Organisations as Rational systems
- Organisations as Natural systems
- Organisations as Open Systems
- Designing Organisations & Combining Perspectives
- Organisations & Environment
- The Nature of the Firm
- Boundary Spanning & Boundary Setting
- Technology & Structure: Coordination & Routines
- Environment & Structure
- Modern Organisational forms

Computer-based tools
Not applicable

Learning process and workload
A course of 6 ECTS credits corresponds to a workload of 160-180 hours.

The course is structured as seminars, combining lectures with active dialogues. The course will combine text book readings with research articles. The lectures will utilize current business cases to illustrate main points in the literature. There are two mandatory assignments, one case based and one simulation based, which are designed to train the students in application of the theory to real situations.

Please note that while attendance is not compulsory in all courses, it is the student’s own responsibility to obtain any information provided in class that is not included on the course homepage/It's learning or text book.


Examination
The course grade will be based on the following activities and weights:
10% Case work
30% Paper/assignment
60% Written examination 3 hours