2014/2015  KAN-CCDCO1004U  Leading Complex Organizations

English Title

Leading Complex Organizations

Course information
Language	English
Course ECTS	7.5 ECTS
Type	Mandatory
Level	Full Degree Master
Duration	One Quarter
Course period	Spring, Fourth Quarter
Timetable	Course schedule will be posted at calendar.cbs.dk
Study board	Study Board for BSc og MSc in Business, Language and Culture, MSc
Course coordinator
Eric Guthey - MSC
Co-teacher: Dan Karreman
Main academic disciplines
Management Organization
Last updated on 19-08-2014

Learning objectives

At the end of the course students should be able to: Compare in detail the theoretical foundations and practical consequences of the systems control perspective and the process relational perspective on strategy, management and organisation Define key process relational concepts including strategic exchange, strategic enactment, and sense-making, and explain how they help explain they help explain the dynamics and challenges that characterize the management of complex organizations Use these theoretical concepts to define and evaluate the nature of knowledge work, the skills and interests of knowledge workers, and the complex nature of the organizational and inter-organizational dynamics that characterize knowledge work. Describe and evaluate the complexity of the challenges that confront organizations populated by large numbers of experts, professionals, and knowledge workers. Apply all of these concepts and perspectives to analyse a wide range of cases chosen to exemplify strategic, organisational and managerial issues and dilemmas that confront complex organizations and the people who work in them.

Course prerequisites

Bachelor degree. The course is offered as an elective in concentration in Diversity and Change Management in the Masters Program in Business, Languages and Culture (BLC), but is also open to students in other graduate programs at the CBS, including international students.

Examination

Leading Complex Organizations: Exam ECTS 7,5 Examination form Home assignment - written product Individual or group exam Individual Max. 10 pages, in english Assignment type Case based assignment Duration 72 hours to prepare Grading scale 7-step scale Examiner(s) One internal examiner Exam period Summer Term and May/June Make-up exam/re-exam Same examination form as the ordinary exam

Course content and structure

This course prepares students for careers as effective managers by exploring the key practical and conceptual tasks and challenges facing complex organizations and the people who work in them.  These challenges include organizing work as a series of diverse and challenging projects; managing project portfolios; negotiating work tasks with experts, professionals, and knowledge workers; maintaining integration in very diverse workplaces; and grappling with uncertainty and change.  The course stresses that in such contexts, the strategic, organisational and cultural aspects of management practice always intersect and overlap. At the same time, the course explores several theories that link these dynamics tightly together.   The course further pursues the notion that management practices rooted in industrial regimes of production increasingly have been superseded in many instances by new management practices that foreground collaboration, leadership, culture and the regulation of identity. The course therefore includes discussion of those aspects of organisational life that are often marginalised in standard texts, including the politics and complexities of managerial decision-making, the personal stresses associated with managerial work, the roles played by ordinary human interaction, relationships, and humour in organizational settings.

Teaching methods

Class time will consist of a combination of lectures and case-based discussions. Students will participate actively in and analyzing presenting readings and cases. Students will be strongly encouraged to form study groups that meet outside of class to prepare and discuss the readings and cases in advance.

Expected literature

Course materials consist of a textbook, journal articles, and business cases. All students are responsible for obtaining all course materials and for showing up for class ready to discuss them. The case materials assigned for this course are all available for purchase at the Harvard Business School Publishing. Indicative Literature: Tony Watson, Organising and Managing Work. Financial Times/ Prentice Hall; 2 edition (10 Jan 2006).