APPLIES TO ACADEMIC YEAR 2015/2016

GRA 6832 Interorganizational Strategies

Responsible for the course
Helene Loe Colman

Department
Department of Strategy and Logistics

Term
According to study plan

ECTS Credits
6

Language of instruction
English

Introduction
The main aim of the course is to introduce various types of inter-organizational relations and discuss their strategic rationale. Inter-organizational relations are used as means to gain access to complementary resources, increase firm flexibility and learning, and the objective of the course is to understand how and when different forms of relations can be useful. The course is structured along three dimensions: a) types of inter-organizational relations (various types of alliances, acquisitions and networks), b) theoretical perspectives that can be applied to understand inter-organizational relations (for instance transaction cost theory, resource based theory, relational perspectives and c) stages in the development of these relations (initiation, governance, structuring, management, re-structuring, performance and termination)

Learning outcome
The course should give an overview and a deep understanding of core parts of the research based literature on inter-organizational relations.
The course aims to develop the student's understanding of the challenges involved in identifying the needs for external relations, formulating and entering these relations as well as managing these relations over time to generate profitability.

Prerequisites
GRA 6830 Economic and Organizational Foundations of Strategic Management or equivalent
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

Articles:
The reading material for the course consists of a compendium of articles. The articles are from journals such as Strategic Management Journal, Journal of Management, Journal of Management Studies, Academy of Management (Review and Journal) and Organization Science

Other:
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
The course will start with the analyses necessary to identify the needs for inter-organizational relations, and the pros and cons of the various choices for cooperation. Then the course will discuss various types of interorganizational relations and their theoretical underpinnings. The course will also look into specific requirements and characteristics of the different phases of entering, managing and terminating these types of relations. Core topics include: Alliances, Mergers and Acquisitions, Networks, Initiation and negotiation, Governance and control, Development over time, Trust, Performance and termination

Computer-based tools


Learning process and workload
A course of 6 ECTS credits corresponds to a workload of 160-180 hours.
Classes will be a mix of lectures, presentations and class discussions, where the students need to grasp theoretical articles, present these and apply their insight to real life cases.

The students need to be present in class, come prepared and be ready to discuss articles and cases when they come to class

Each student is required to read assigned articles and come prepared for class. Students will also prepare article summaries and do presentations.

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 or in the required readings.


Examination
The course grade will be based on the following activities and weights:
The examination will be a mix between participation (30%), 48 hour take home exam (20%) and term paper (50%)