GRA 6832 Interorganisational Strategies
GRA 6832 Interorganisational Strategies
The main aim of the course is to introduce various types of inter-organisational relations and discuss their strategic rationale. Inter-organisational 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-organisational relations (various types of alliances, acquisitions and networks), b) theoretical perspectives that can be applied to understand inter-organisational 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).
The course should give an overview and a deep understanding of core parts of the research based literature on inter-organisational 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.
The students should be able to:
- critically examine theories, studies and practices of interorganizational relationships.
- identify the particular interorganizational strategy that firms can use in a given context, and the potential governance issues and outcomes from them
The students should be able to critically reflect upon the relationships between strategic decisions about interorganizational strategies and outcomes as an analyst or manager.
The course will start with the analyses necessary to identify the needs for inter-organisational relations, and the pros and cons of the various choices for cooperation. Then the course will discuss various types of interorganisational 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
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.
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 It's learning or text book.
This is a course with continuous assessment (several exam components) and one final exam code. Each exam component is graded by using points on a scale from 0-100. The components will be weighted together according to the information in the course description in order to calculate the final letter grade for the examination code (course). Students who fail to participate in one/some/all exam elements will get a lower grade or may fail the course. You will find detailed information about the point system and the cut off points with reference to the letter grades when the course start.
At resit, all exam components must, as a main rule, be retaken during next scheduled course.
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.
GRA 6830 Economic and Organizational Foundations of Strategic Management or equivalent
| Assessments |
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Exam category: Activity Form of assessment: Class participation Weight: 30 Grouping: Individual Exam code: GRA68321 Grading scale: Point scale leading to ECTS letter grade Resit: All components must, as a main rule, be retaken during next scheduled course |
Exam category: Submission Form of assessment: Written submission Weight: 20 Grouping: Group (2 - 3) Duration: 48 Hour(s) Comment: 48-hour take-home exam Exam code: GRA68321 Grading scale: Point scale leading to ECTS letter grade Resit: All components must, as a main rule, be retaken during next scheduled course |
Exam category: Submission Form of assessment: Written submission Weight: 50 Grouping: Individual Duration: 1 Semester(s) Comment: Term paper Exam code: GRA68321 Grading scale: Point scale leading to ECTS letter grade Resit: All components must, as a main rule, be retaken during next scheduled course |
A course of 1 ECTS credit corresponds to a workload of 26-30 hours. Therefore a course of 6 ECTS credits corresponds to a workload of at least 160 hours.