English   Danish

2017/2018  KAN-CCMVI2048U  Organization: Team Dynamics in Multinational Corporations

English Title
Organization: Team Dynamics in Multinational Corporations

Course information
Language English
Course ECTS 7.5 ECTS
Type Elective
Level Full Degree Master
Duration Summer
Start time of the course Summer
Timetable Course schedule will be posted at calendar.cbs.dk
Max. participants 60
Study board
Study Board for MSc in Economics and Business Administration
Course coordinator
  • Course instructor - Lisbeth Clausen Ph.D. Associate Professor CBS Department of Management, Society and Communication, lcl.msc@cbs.dk
    Sven Bislev - Department of Management, Society and Communication (MSC)
In case of any academic questions related to the course, please contact the course instructor or the academic director, Sven Bislev at sb.msc@cbs.dk
Main academic disciplines
  • Communication
  • Management
  • Organization
Last updated on 23/07/2018

Relevant links
Learning objectives
To achieve the grade 12, students should meet the following learning objectives with no or only minor mistakes or errors:
  • Explain the challenges of global business managers of multinational corporations at the team level
  • Define and solve a research question concerning high performing teams in a multinational with focus on organization, communication and competence
  • Present and discuss the research question and findings in a clear and structured manner
  • Explain and compare the organizational structure, and organizational behavior theories and models presented in the course
  • Appropriately select theories and models in a framework to be applied to the practical case(s) (provided in the course) E.g. apply theories and models to describe team dynamics when doing global business in practice
  • Discuss personal team learnings in light of course theory
Course prerequisites
Basic organisation, organisational behavior, management
Examination
Organization: Team Dynamics in Multinational Corporations:
Exam ECTS 7.5
Examination form Home assignment - written product
Individual or group exam Individual exam
Size of written product Max. 15 pages
Assignment type Project
Duration Written product to be submitted on specified date and time.
Grading scale 7-step scale
Examiner(s) One internal examiner
Exam period Summer, Ordinary exam: 26/27 June - 30 July 2018. Please note that exam will start on the first teaching day and will run in parallel with the course.

Retake exam: September - October 2018

3rd attempt (2nd retake) exam: November - December 2018

Exam schedule is available on https:/​/​www.cbs.dk/​uddannelse/​international-summer-university-programme-isup/​courses-and-exams.
Make-up exam/re-exam
Same examination form as the ordinary exam
Home project assignment, new exam question (72-hour home assignment)
Course content and structure

The aim of the course is to provide students with knowledge of the dynamics of high performing global teams drawing on organization, communication and competence theories. During the course students will become familiar with organization and organizational design and organization behavioral theories and methods to understand and analyze team collaboration in multinational corporations. Each session will focus on the application of a specific model for analysis in relation to a corporate case. Throughout the course students will also be challenged to apply and reflect on personal international experience and knowledge about team work. 
Note: Students will be assigned a team first day in class and work with this team throughout the course. Team engagement in class is expected. 

 

Preliminary assignment: Read case and answer 10 questions

Class 1. Corporate global challenges and multicultural teams 

Class 2. Groups and Teams in Organizations – why teams?

Class 3. Stakeholder Communication 

Class 4. Organizational culture and leadership 

Class 5. Power, Decision Making and Politics 

Class 6. Perception, diversity and Socialization

Class 7. Organisational design structure and processes

Class 8. Organizational Change and Development 

Class 9. Motivation and needs theories 

Class 10 Work-life balance

Class 11 Teams in theory and practice – recap models –experiences 

Feedback activity and deliveries for each session
Teaching methods
The course is a combination of classroom teaching, discussions and group work based on the course readings and corporate case(s) book. Students are expected to read assignments before lectures and may be called upon any time to explain - 'cold' calling. This is to accelerate learning and engagement and secure high levels of discussion. Group workshops and mini-assignments will follow in each lecture. In the case workshops students are expected to contribute creatively and actively and to present theoretical models and case assignments.
Speaker(s) will be invited to talk about global business management ’in action’. They represent multinational corporations. The speaker(s) will share their professional practices and strategies in organizing markets and stakeholders including employees, consumers, alliances, and their subsidiary teams.
Feedback during the teaching period
Feedback on group work and deliveries:
Students will get feedback on group work and deliveries during each class. Student participation in class is a prerequisite for feedback:
Students will be assigned to a working group in the first day of class to solve a number of problems applying course theories and concepts on a corporate multinational case. This case (25 pages) should be read for the first lecture (see case questions on Learn). The course is designed to enable students to collect a portfolio of model applications that they can use in the written exam report.
Students will make ‘deliveries’ based on given themes/issue/model related to their case throughout the course. A delivery is an A-4 paper hand-in, which will be scanned and up-loaded on Learn following the class. Besides one-page deliveries, students will conduct class presentations analyzing a particular problem in their case related to theory. The groups will in turn provide feedback to each other to share knowledge across their case organizations.

Moreover, all Home Project Assignments/mini projects are based upon a research question (problem formulation) formulated by the students individually, and must be handed in to the course instructor for his/her approval no later than 12 July 2018. The instructor must approve the research question (problem formulation) no later than 17 July 2018. The approval is a feedback to the student about the instructor's assessment of the problem's relevance and the possibilities of producing a good report.
Student workload
Preliminary assignment 20 hours
Classroom attendance 33 hours
Preparation 126 hours
Feedback activity 7 hours
Examination 20 hours
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 1 in order to 'jump-start' the learning process.

 

Course timetable is available on https://www.cbs.dk/uddannelse/international-summer-university-programme-isup/courses-and-exams.

 

We reserve the right to cancel the course if we do not get enough applications. This will be communicated on https://www.cbs.dk/uddannelse/international-summer-university-programme-isup/courses-and-exams end February 2018 at the latest.
Expected literature

Mandatory readings:

 

Champoux, Joseph, E. (2017). Organizational Behavior: Integrating Individuals, Groups and Organizaitons (5th Edition). Routledge. 

CASE BOOK: Clausen, Lisbeth (2015) Team dynamics and diversity: Japanese corporate experiences. Copenhagen: Copenhagen Business School Press. p. 250

NOTE: students will purchase ONE case from the above case book. LINK TBA 

 

Articles: 

Beamer, L. and Varner, I (2005) 3rd edition/1995. Intercultural Communication in the Global Workplace. Boston: McGrawhill 

 

Cornelissen Joep, (2017) Chapter 2-3. Corporate Communication. A guide to theory and practice. London Sage. Fifth Edition. 

 

David Berlo (1960) ”The Process of communication” in Jandt, 1998: 26 

Hatch, Mary Jo; Schultz, Majken (1997). ”Relations between organizational culture, identity and image”. European Journal of Marketing, 31, 5/6  
 
Hatch, Mary Jo & Schultz, Majken 2002, 'The dynamics of organizational identity' Human Relations, vol 55, nr. 8, p989-1018.  
 
Katzenbach, Jon R. and Smith, Douglas K. (2005) Organizational culture. The Discipline of Teams. Harvard Business Review. July–August  
 
Kotter, John, P. (2007) Leading Change: Why Transformation Efforts Fail.  Harvard Business Review. January. Vol. 85 Issue 1, p96-103 

 

Kotter, John P. (2012) Competitive strategy.  Accelerate. Harvard Business Review, November Issue   
 
Mintzberg, Henry and Van den Heyden, Ludo (1999). Organigraphs: Drawing How Companies Really Work Harvard Business Review.  September–October Issue  
 
Nielsen, Bo Bernard; Nielsen, Sabina. (2013) Top Management Team Nationality Diversity and Firm Performance : A Multi-level Study. Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 34, No. 3, 2013, p. 373-382 
 
Ollier-Malaterre, Arianne and Foucreault, Annie. Cross-National Work-Life Research: Cultural and Structural Impact for Individuals and Organizations. Journal of Management. Vol. 432 No 1 January, 2017 11-136: 115 
 
Pentland, Alex. (2012) The New Science of Building Great Teams. Harvard Business Review. April p. 60-70  
 
Thomas, David A. and Ely, Robin J. (1996) Cross cultural management. Making Differences Matter: A New Paradigm for Managing Diversity. Harvard Business Review. September–October Issue 

 

Additional relevant readings:

 

A few additional readings may be uploaded on my.cbs LEARN at course start.
Last updated on 23/07/2018