GRA 6832 Interorganizational Strategies
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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%)
Form of assessment | Weight | Group size |
Class participation | 30% | |
Take home examination | 20% | |
Term paper | 50% | |
Specific information regarding student assessment will be provided in class. This information may be relevant to requirements for term papers or other hand-ins, and/or where class participation can be one of several components of the overall assessment. This is a course with continuous assessment (several exam components) and one final exam code. Each exam component is graded using points on a scale from 0-100. The final grade for the course is based on the aggregated mark of the course components. Each component is weighted as detailed in the course description. Students who fail to participate in one/some/all exam components will get a lower grade or may fail the course. You will find detailed information about the points system and the mapping scale in the student portal @bi.
Examination code(s)
GRA 68321 continuous assessment accounts for 100% of the final grade in the course GRA 6832
Examination support materials
Permitted examination support materials for written examinations are detailed under examination information in the student portal @bi. The section on support materials and the use of calculators and dictionaries should be paid special attention to.
Re-sit examination
It is only possible to retake an examination when the course is next taught. The assessment in some courses is based on more than one exam code. Where this is the case, you may retake only the assessed components of one of these exam codes. All retaken examinations will incur an additional fee. Please note that you need to retake the latest version of the course with updated course literature and assessment. Please make sure that you have familiarised yourself with the latest course description.
Additional information
Honor code
Academic honesty and trust are important to all of us as individuals, and represent values that are encouraged and promoted by the honor code system. This is a most significant university tradition. Students are responsible for familiarizing themselves with the ideals of the honor code system, to which the faculty are also deeply committed.
Any violation of the honor code will be dealt with in accordance with BI’s procedures for cheating. These issues are a serious matter to everyone associated with the programs at BI and are at the heart of the honor code and academic integrity. If you have any questions about your responsibilities under the honor code, please ask.