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2019/2020  BA-BSOCO1831U  Business, Politics and Society

English Title
Business, Politics and Society

Course information
Language English
Course ECTS 7.5 ECTS
Type Mandatory
Level Bachelor
Duration One Semester
Start time of the course Autumn
Timetable Course schedule will be posted at calendar.cbs.dk
Study board
Study Board for BSc in Business Administration and Sociology
Course coordinator
  • Benedikte Brincker - Department of Management, Politics and Philosophy (MPP)
Main academic disciplines
  • Political leadership and public management
Teaching methods
  • Face-to-face teaching
Last updated on 29-08-2019

Relevant links
Learning objectives
On successful completion of the course, the student should be able to:
  • account for the central assumptions and analyses in the texts of the curriculum
  • identify and discuss the most important differences and similarities in the interaction between companies/organisations, politics and society in different settings as covered in the curriculum
  • identity strenghts and weaknesses in the approaches introduced during the course
  • on the basis of the texts of the curriculum, identify, describe, and analyse a current problem which exemplifies the interaction between business, politics and society
Course prerequisites
The course Business, Politics and Society and Managerial Economics II has one integrated exam. You can only participate in Business, Politics and Society if you also register for the course: Managerial Economics II.
Prerequisites for registering for the exam (activities during the teaching period)
Number of compulsory activities which must be approved: 1
Compulsory home assignments
The course involves two compulsory assignments – one in week 39 and one in week 44. Students have to have at least one of these assignments approved in order to sit the exam. The assignments are written (1 page synopsis) on a set question provided by the course coordinator/lecturer, and have the purpose to help students prepare for the exam. Hence, the set question resembles the MEII-BPS exam questions. In the first assignment we focus on the construction of an analytical argument. This is a skill that will come in handy at the MEII-BPS exam. Students have two days to construct their argument – from Tuesday 24th September after class until Thursday 26th September at noon. In the second assignment (week 44) we focus on constructing an analytical argument under time pressure (a situation that students will find themselves in at the MEII-BPS exam). Students have 6 hours to construct their argument – from immediate after class 29th October until 8pm on the same day. The first and second assignments are approved by the course coordinator. Feed-back will be given as collective feed-back in the first coming lecture after the assignment (week 40 and 45). Students may also receive individual feed-back by making use of the course coordinator’s office hours.
Examination
Business in Context:
Exam ECTS 15
Examination form Oral exam
Individual or group exam Individual exam
Duration 20 min. per student, including examiners' discussion of grade, and informing plus explaining the grade
Preparation time With the listed preparation time: 20 Minutes
Grading scale 7-point grading scale
Examiner(s) Internal examiner and second internal examiner
Exam period Autumn
Aids Limited aids, see the list below:
The student is allowed to bring to the preparation room
  • Books (including translation dictionaries), compendiums and notes in paper format.
The student is also allowed to bring simple writing and drawing utensils (non-digital). Students are not allowed to communicate with others during the preparation time.
Make-up exam/re-exam
Same examination form as the ordinary exam
Description of the exam procedure

The two courses ‘Managerial Economics II’ and ‘Business, Politics and Society’ are assessed in a 3rd semester integrated and interdisciplinary oral examination.


Learning objectives for the exam:
At the oral examination, the student should, demonstrate ability to relate the content of the courses ‘Managerial Economics II’ and ‘Business, Politics and Society’ to each other as complementary perspectives.

Specifically, the student should demonstrate that (s)he:
 

  • has achieved the learning objectives for the courses ‘Managerial Economics II’ and ‘Business, Politics and Society’ (see below),
  • is able to think across the courses and reflect about similarities and differences between the academic disciplines that the courses build upon.
Course content, structure and pedagogical approach

Aim of the course:
The aim of this course is to provide the student with theoretical and empirical knowledge about the interaction between business, politics and society in different societal contexts, including various sectors in soceity and different national and regional settings.


Description of the course:
This course provides a theoretical framework that involves two elements that are vital for any kind of analytical work: conceptualisations and contextualisations. Throughout the course, you'll be introduced to different understandings and foundations of trust, authority and cooperation. The teaching will be based in the perspective that concepts have to be analysed in context. Hence, companies and organizations have to be considered in their institutional context if we wish to acquire a deeper understanding of the conditions under which they work.
 
Description of the teaching methods
Students will be exposed to a variety of teaching methods:
Lectures
Group work
Student presentations
Debating.

Students are required to participate actively throughout the course.
Feedback during the teaching period
In Business, Politics and Society we use the following types for feedback:
Feedback, which includes feed-back from the course lecturer and peer-feedback, is integrated into the teaching methods: group work, student presentation and debating.

Futhermore, students are strongly encouraged to make use of the office hours of the course lecturers.
Student workload
Lectures 36 hours
Preparation 182 hours
Expected literature

The course uses the following text book which is available in the CBS bookstore from approx. 1st July 2019.

Brincker, Benedikte (2019): Introduction to Political Sociology, Copenhagen: Hans Reitzel
Last updated on 29-08-2019