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2014/2015  BA-BHAAI1016U  Foundational perspectives in leading and managing organizations

English Title
Foundational perspectives in leading and managing organizations

Course information
Language English
Course ECTS 7.5 ECTS
Type Elective
Level Bachelor
Duration Summer
Course period Summer
Timetable Course schedule will be posted at calendar.cbs.dk
Study board
Study Board for BSc in Economics and Business Administration
Course coordinator
  • Course instructor - Dr. Gary Schwarz, Harvard University / NUBS China
    Patricia Plackett - MPP
Main academic disciplines
  • Globalization, International Business, markets and studies
  • Management
  • Organization
  • Corporate and Business Strategy
Last updated on 02-07-2014
Learning objectives
At the end of the course the student should be able to:
  • Align organizational strategy and structure.
  • Assess organizational decision-making.
  • Manage change effectively.
  • Design inter-organizational relationships.
  • Control organizations in an age of empowerment.
  • Understand how to shape organizational culture.
Course prerequisites
No academic prerequisites required.
Prerequisites for registering for the exam
Number of mandatory activities: 1
Compulsory assignments (assessed approved/not approved)
Mandatory Mid-term Assignment: Each student is expected to participate in an oral group presentation that applies concepts from the first four classes to an existing organization. Instructor approval is required prior to topic selection.
Examination
4-hour written exam:
Exam ECTS 7,5
Examination form Written sit-in exam
Individual or group exam Individual
Assignment type Written assignment
Duration 4 hours
Grading scale 7-step scale
Examiner(s) One internal examiner
Exam period Summer Term
Aids allowed to bring to the exam Limited aids, see the list below and the exam plan/guidelines for further information:
  • Allowed dictionaries
Make-up exam/re-exam
Same examination form as the ordinary exam
If the number of registered candidates for the make-up examination/re-take examination warrants that it may most appropriately be held as an oral examination, the programme office will inform the students that the make-up examination/re-take examination will be held as an oral examination instead.
Course content and structure

This course highlights the critical components involved in analyzing the strategy, structure, and culture of an organization, as well as issues related to leading, motivating, and influencing people in organizations. The course emphasizes how employees both shape and are shaped by the organizational context and provides students with the tools and understanding to analyze, diagnose, and respond to crucial and complex organizational situations. In order to do so, the course examines different theories and schools of organizational design. In particular, it analyzes how management strategies provide firms with sustainable competitive advantage and how organizational structures and routines influence the effective execution of these strategies. How globalization impacts organizational design and how companies deal with inter-organizational relationships is also addressed.
Class Schedule

Class Topic
Class 1 Introduction / Strategy and Organization
Class 2 Managing Organizational Structure
Class 3 Preliminary Assignment / Managing Culture
Class 4 Organizational Control
Class 5 Mandatory Mid-term Assignment
Class 6 Power and Persuasion in Organizations
Class 7 Leadership
Class 8 Managing Teams
Class 9 Managing Change
Class 10 Interorganizational Relationships
Class 11 Comprehensive Review
Teaching methods
Each of the ten course concepts will be introduced in a lecture. In most of the sessions, a case study about a company facing the issues at hand will be analyzed. In addition to presentations, interactive group exercises will be carried out and various videos will be shown.
Further Information
Preliminary Assignment: To help students get maximum value from ISUP courses, instructors provide a reading or a small number of readings or video clips to be read or viewed before the start of classes with a related task scheduled for class 3 in order to 'jump-start' the learning process.
Expected literature
Daft, Richard L., Jonathan Murphy, and Hugh Willmott (2010). Organization Theory and Design. Stamford: Cengage Learning
 
Total number of pages of suggested literature: 550
 
Class Session 1: Introduction / Strategy and Organization
·         Daft et al., Chapters 1 and 2
·         Case: Philips versus Matsushita: Competing strategic and organizational choices. Bartlett, C. and Beamish, P., Transnational Management (2011), pp. 315-331.
 
Class Session 2:  Managing Organizational Structure
·         Daft et al., Chapter 3
·         Case: GE’s two-decade transformation: Jack Welch’s leadership, Harvard (2005), 24 pages.
 
Class Session 3: Managing Culture
·         Daft et al., Chapter 10
·         Case: How to change a culture: Lessons from NUMMI (2010). MIT Sloan Management Review 51(2), pp. 63-68.
 
Class Session 4: Organizational Control
Daft et al., Chapter 8, pp. 315-320; Chapter 9, pp. 362-374.
·         Daft et al., Chapter 8, pp. 315-320; Chapter 9, pp. 362-374.
·         Simons, R. (2008). Control in an age of empowerment. Harvard Business Review 73(2), pp. 80-88.
 
Class Session 5:  Mid-term Assignment: Group Presentations
Each student is expected to participate in an oral group presentation which applies concepts from the first four classes to an existing organization.
 
Class Session 6: Power and Persuasion in Organizations
·         Daft et al., Chapter 13
·         Cialdini, R. (2001). Harnessing the science of persuasion. Harvard Business Review 79(9), pp. 72-79.
·         Case: Frank Borman at Eastern Airlines
Class Session 7: Leadership
·         Linstead, S., Fulop, L., and Lilley, S. (2009). Management & Organization (Second Edition). New York: Palgrave  Macmillan. Chapter 10: Leadership and leading, pp. 473-499.
·         Kotter, J. (2001). What leaders really do. Harvard Business Review 79(11), pp. 85-96.
·         Case: The real leadership lessons of Steve Jobs.Harvard Business Review90(4), pp. 92-102.
 
Class Session 8: Managing Teams
·         McShane, S. L. and Von Glinow, M. A. (2010). Organizational Behavior (Fifth Edition). New York: McGraw-Hill. Chapter 8: Team dynamics, pp. 233-26
·         Case: Mount Everest, Harvard (2003), 22 pages.
Class Session 9: Managing Change
·         Daft et al., Chapter 11
·         Kotter, J. P. (2007). Leading change: Why transformation efforts fail. Harvard Business Review 85(1), pp. 96-103.
·         Case: Celeritas, Inc.: Leadership challenges in a fast-growth industry, Harvard (2011), 11 pages.
 
Class Session 10: Interorganizational Relationships
·         Daft et al., Chapter 5
·         Case: Eden McCallum: A network-based consulting firm (A), Harvard (2011), 15 pages.
 Class Session 11: Comprehensive Review
Last updated on 02-07-2014