GRA 6549 Nordic Corporate Governance - CANCELLED AUTUMN 2018
GRA 6549 Nordic Corporate Governance - CANCELLED AUTUMN 2018
The Nordic model of corporate governance (CG) was described and explained by a group of experts from Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden in a report that was published by SNS (Studieförbundet Näringsliv och Samhälle) in 2014. Hanken Centre for Corporate Governance (HCCG) at Hanken School of Economics (Hanken Svenska handelshögskolan) in Helsinki, Finland was actively involved in producing this document and is now planning to arrange a joint Nordic course on Nordic CG for Master’s students in the Nordic countries. The whole course will be centred on Nordic case studies, since it is well known that case studies provide the most efficient way of learning in business studies.
Corporate Governance is a relatively new area in business economics. Substantial differences still exist in the framework and interpretation of main concepts. To strengthen the case for Nordic governance solutions, it is important to create a common framework for CG in the Nordic countries. Governance that is internationally seen as trustworthy will make it easier for Nordic companies to finance a global expansion of their activities. The aim of this course is to increase the students’ knowledge in Nordic CG and in the difficult trade-offs that characterize CG in practice. The course also strives to develop active collaboration between future CG experts in the Nordic countries.
With their future career in mind the students participating in the course will have a great advantage of actively networking with students from other Nordic countries. The present crisis in the European Union and its uncertain future makes Nordic collaboration even more important.
The course aims to improve the students’ knowledge of corporate governance concepts and practices. The process consists of three main steps:
- A brief revision of key theoretical concepts related to corporate governance. The goal is to provide students with a broad view of asymmetric information issues, agency conflicts and the need for good corporate governance practices.
- An in-depth exploration of Nordic corporate governance regulations and practices. By the end of the course, students should be well informed about the distinctive features of corporate governance in Nordic countries, including ownership structures, the relationship between owners, the board, and management, the structure and duties of the board.
A set of in-depth case studies involving companies from the Nordic region. The cases allow students to learn more about the real-life corporate decisions and their effect on a firm’s stakeholders
The course is centered on a series of case studies focused on Nordic companies and Nordic corporate governance practices. This allows students to develop several relevant skills:
- The collection and selection of relevant information from various sources coming from several countries.
- The critical analysis of facts and opinions formulated by stakeholders with various interests involved in the case.
- The ability to present the key facts of the case in a clear and informative way.
- The ability to support one’s arguments using the relevant information from the case, as well as the theoretical concepts and arguments from the field of corporate governance.
- The ability to successfully work in a team with students with diverse backgrounds from different schools in the region.
The course is an opportunity to learn about and reflect on the link between theoretical corporate governance concepts, corporate governance regulations and practices, and real-life decisions made by various stakeholders (shareholders, other investors, boards, managers, regulators, courts).
The course will be organised as a joint project involving CG experts from Copenhagen, Helsinki, Oslo and Stockholm. The course will focus on one major case in each of the Nordic countries. It will consist of a two-day workshop in each of the countries, where the CG case will be intensively discussed and four competing groups (one student from each country) will prepare a case report of 10-12 pages. These case studies will focus on real life CG issues in the company that has been picked for the case, headquartered in that country. Discussions with people from the case company will be arranged during the workshop, and faculty will be involved for consultation by participants. The number of participants will be four Master’s students/country, chosen by merit from submitted applications.
Time schedule
The course is planned to be held during the autumn. The four workshops will be scheduled during September-December with approximately one workshop/ 3 weeks.
Course program for each of the four workshops
Day 1
- setting up teams and planning the team work
- case introduction by participants, faculty and invited guests
- lunch
- team work:
- drafting of report outline
- drafting of report
- get together evening program
Day 2
- drafting of report continues
- lunch
- presentation and discussion
The students will be asked to prepare for the two-day workshop by reading material about the CG case, which will be analysed during the workshop. To help the foreign participants prepare for the discussions they are also required to individually answer a few questions about the case and send the answers to the faculty member hosting the case. Carefully selected case material will be distributed to participants from other countries by the local participants and the faculty member in each country.
Before the workshop the students will be divided into groups consisting of one student from each country. The first day will begin with presentations by faculty members, company representatives and other invited guests. The students are encouraged to ask questions based on the case material they have received in advance. After the class discussions the groups will start to prepare a case report during the afternoon on the first workshop day and before lunch during the second day. The program will end with group presentations and finalizing the reports in the afternoon during the second workshop day. The best case description will be selected jointly by faculty after the workshop.
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 in the 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 starts.
At resit, all exam components must, as a main rule, be retaken during next scheduled course.
Honour Code
Academic honesty and trust are important to all of us as individuals, and represent values that are encouraged and promoted by the honour code system. This is a most significant university tradition. Students are responsible for familiarizing themselves with the ideals of the honour code system, to which the faculty are also deeply committed. The expected behaviour and honour code is outlined here.
Any violation of the honour 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 honour code and academic integrity. If you have any questions about your responsibilities under the honour code, please ask.
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 specific prerequisites and will assume that students have followed normal study progression. For double degree and exchange students, please note that equivalent courses are accepted.
| Assessments |
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Exam category: Submission Form of assessment: Written submission Weight: 60 Grouping: Group (2 - 4) Duration: 1 Semester(s) Comment: Reports Exam code: GRA65491 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: Activity Form of assessment: Class participation Weight: 20 Grouping: Individual Duration: 1 Semester(s) Exam code: GRA65491 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: Activity Form of assessment: Presentation and discussion Weight: 20 Grouping: Individual Comment: Interaction Exam code: GRA65491 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.