GRA 6026 Organization Science

APPLIES TO ACADEMIC YEAR 2012/2013

GRA 6026 Organization Science Responsible for the course Thorvald Hærem Department Department of Strategy and Logistics 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 organizations. Organizations are a main tool that modern society applies to meet the challenges of innovation and resolution of complex tasks. To understand how to organize to resolve the challenges organizations 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 organizational structures that we observe in both the private and in the public sector. Understanding new organizational 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 organizational structures and processes. Learning outcome KNOWLEDGE Understand the concept of Organizations Know about the fundamental research streams in organization science Know how to organize to facilitate the resolution of different types of tasks Know how to adjust the organizational structure to the influence of different types of environment Know about the effectiveness of major organizational mechanisms Know about the workings of major organizational mechanisms such as power, authority and goal setting. SKILLS Be able to analyze organizational problems Be able to identify mismatches in different organizational settings Know techniques to adjust an organization to environmental demands Know techniques to adjust an organization to internal technological demands Be able to apply theoretical frameworks to specific organizational problems Be able to pinpoint generic organizational problems REFLECTION Developed a measured understanding about the relevance and scope of organizations Be able to understand how organizations can analyzed in different perspectives Have a realistic and empirically based attitude to the strengths and limits of rational organizational theories Developed a measured and empirically based understanding of how micro and macro conditions interact in organizations and how to analytically disentangle them Understand how organization theory is the foundation for leadership and management Prerequisites A Bachelor degree qualifying for admission to the MSc programme. Compulsory reading Books: Scott, W. Richard and Gerald F. Davis. 2007. Organizations and organizing : rational, natural, and open system perspectives. Pearson Education. Det diskuteres et særtrykk for denne boken tilpasset til kurset. 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, Organizations as rational, natural & open systems - Organizations as Rational systems - Organizations as Natural systems - Organizations as Open Systems - Designing Organizations & Combining Perspectives - Organizations & Environment - The Nature of the Firm - Boundary Spanning & Boundary Setting - Technology & Structure: Coordination & Routines - Environment & Structure - Modern Organizational forms Computer-based tools It's learning/homepage 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 70% Three hour written exam. 30% class based activities in the form of a mix of some/ all of the following: hand in of case write ups, participation in computer simulations, and homeworks; case presentations and class participation; in class midterm and quizzes. Specific information regarding student evaluation beyond the information given in the course description will be provided in class. This information may be relevant for requirements for term papers or other hand-ins, and/or where class participation can be one of several elements of the overall evaluation. This is a course with continuous assessment (several exam elements) and one final exam code. Each exam element will be graded using points on a scale (e.g. 0-100). The elements will be weighted together according to the information in the course description in order to calculate the final letter grade for the course. You will find detailed information about the point system and the cut off points with reference to the letter grades on the course site in It’s learning. Examination code(s) GRA60261 accounts for 100 % of the final grade in the course GRA 6026. Examination support materials A bilingual dictionary. Exam aids at written examinations are explained under exam information in our web-based Student handbook. Please note use of calculator and dictionary. http://www.bi.edu/studenthandbook/examaids 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. Where this is not the case, all of the assessed components of the course must be retaken. All retaken examinations will incur an additional fee. 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.

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