• Identify drivers of the changing nature of work, analyze their impact and evaluate strengths and limitations of different theories of change
• Identify the role of employment relations in shaping the nature of work and in affecting national competitiveness
• Examine different strategies for improving work, identify their key assumptions, and assess different initiatives to improve work
• Building on the material in the course students should critically develop concrete lessons for further developing their own careers
• Reflect on how the course has contributed to a rethinking of previously held ideas or beliefs about work as well as discussing implications of the course material for their future career and management style

This seminar explores how the nature of work has changed dramatically in recent years putting pressure on traditional institutions and policies governing work in advanced industrialized countries, while exposing the failure of institutions to protect workers in many emerging and developing market economies. The nature of work has changed due to a variety of factors such as:
1) Globalization which has increased the competitive pressure on wages in advanced industrialized countries particularly at the bottom of the labor market;

2) The development of new organizational structures that call into question the boundaries of the enterprise and the structures around which collective bargaining has traditionally been organized;

3) New production and management techniques;

4) A changing family structure with more women entering the work place leading to demands for a better work-life balance;

5) The emergence of the so-called ‘gig economy’

Preliminary assignment:  Write a 3 page paper outlining your career aspirations. What matters most to you (independence? money? great colleagues? doing something that you think of as meaningful?)

Class 1: Introduction to the class: The changing nature of work in an era of globalization
This session offers an introductory overview of major changes in the nature of work since WWII.

Class 2: Organizational innovations
This session considers how organizational innovations such as subcontracting and franchising affect pay and working conditions.

Class 3: Globalization and the impact on jobs
This session considers how globalization offers opportunities for companies to take advantage of cheaper labor costs in the global South and considers implications for employment in the global North.

Class 4:  Technological innovations
Technology used to make us better at our jobs. Now it's making many jobs obsolete, as the share of income going to workers is crashing, all over the world. But there are other areas of work where technology complements human labor and in many cases can contribute to the creation of jobs.

Class 5: A Global Perspective: Managing Work in Global Supply Chains
As more and more firms have shifted production and sourcing strategies to developing and emerging market economies managing working conditions in global supply chains has become a key challenge.

Class 6: Employment relations
This session highlights changes in employment relations and implications for labor. Can unions still play a role in raising wages and improving work conditions? We will also consider what “the gig economy” embodied by Uber and Lyft means for those who make their living outside of standard employment relationships.

Feedback activity:  Discussion of your paper topics and feedback

Class 7:  Why workers don’t vote their interests
Why do so many working class people vote against their perceived economic interests?

Class 8: Gender equality in the work place
What kind of initiatives – public and/or private – can best address gender inequality in the work place?

Class 9:  Work-life balance
Is it possible to have a high-powered career and lead a balanced life? Can women “have it all”? Can men?

Class 10: What is talent in the knowledge economy? How will companies cope with millennials?
In some knowledge-intensive industries such as biotech and ICT the knowledge worker is a key competitive ressource. How can companies attract the best talent? And do companies need to change to accomodate millennials or do they?

Class 11: Presentation of your paper research and findings

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 2019 at the latest.

Mandatory readings:

Suzanne Berger (2013). Making in America. From Innovation to Markets. MIT Press. Chapter 2. What Happened to Manufacturing. Chapter 7. Jobs, Skills and Training. Gerald F. Davis (2011). Managed by the Markets: How Finance Re-Shaped America. Oxford University Press. Chapter 1. The New Financial Capitalism.

Additional relevant readings:

Knudsen, Jette Steen (2017). "Government Regulation of International Corporate Social Responsibility in the US and the UK: How Domestic Institutions Shape Mandatory and Supportive Initiatives." British Journal of Industrial Relations. Fletcher Forum 2018

(https:/​/​now.tufts.edu/​articles/​safeguarding-those-who-make-our-clothes)