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2023/2024  KAN-CCMVI2116U  The Changing Nature of Work: Towards a Digital Future

English Title
The Changing Nature of Work: Towards a Digital Future

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
Min. participants 40
Max. participants 60
Study board
Study Board for cand.merc. and GMA (CM)
Course coordinator
  • Liana Razmerita - Department of Management, Society and Communication (MSC)
For academic questions related to the course, please contact course responsible Liana Razmerita (lra.msc@cbs.dk).
Main academic disciplines
  • Information technology
  • Management
  • Organisational behaviour
Teaching methods
  • Blended learning
Last updated on 28-02-2024

Relevant links
Learning objectives
Throughout the course, students are expected to critically reflect on the changing nature of work, both in terms of the opportunities and challenges accompanying digital work practices as well as the potential consequences brought about by such work practices at different levels of analyses (e.g., individual, organizational or
societal). In order to achieve the grade 12, the students should be able to:
  • Define and formulate a research problem around the changing nature of work
  • Identify and discuss opportunities and challenges that are brought about by digital work practices in the selected case(s)
  • Apply key concepts and theoretical frameworks from the course to analyze the case(s) of new digital work
  • Reflect critically on your experience and learning process during the course
Course prerequisites
Completed bachelor or master degree or equivalent
Examination
The Changing Nature of Work: Towards a Digital Future:
Exam ECTS 7,5
Examination form Home assignment - written product
Individual or group exam Individual exam
Size of written product Max. 10 pages
Assignment type Project
Release of assignment An assigned subject is released in class
Duration Written product to be submitted on specified date and time.
Grading scale 7-point grading scale
Examiner(s) One internal examiner
Exam period Summer
Make-up exam/re-exam
Same examination form as the ordinary exam
The 1st retake is a 72-hour, maximum 10-pages home assignment.
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.

The 2nd retake is always an online oral exam (20 minutes online oral exam with no preparation time) with one internal examiner and an internal co-examiner.
Description of the exam procedure

Mini-project individual exam based on a group project that will be develop during the course period. The students will be allowed to work on a topic of their choice connected to the course.

 
Course content, structure and pedagogical approach

Knowledge work continues to develop and evolve as we have witnessed recently through the emergence of remote or hybrid workplaces, the advent of the gig economy, as well as the surge in digital nomads. The pandemic has further accelerated the transition to digital work practices due to a compelling need to continue organisations’ businesses operations and sustain employees’ livelihood. By harnessing the capabilities of digital technologies, digital work practices allow for more dynamic and fluid work arrangements regarding where and when work is done. This is especially relevant for high-skilled knowledge workers in different fields of activity including creative, financial, and service industries.

 

This course is targeted at students interested in learning about the opportunities and callenges associated with the changing nature of work empowered by digital technologies. The course focuses on how digital technologies (e.g., artificial intelligence, algorithmic management, digital platforms, and social media) are leveraged to support collaboration and innovation within cultural and institutional contexts as well as the consequences, intended or otherwise, stemming from their usage. Additionally, we will deliberate on the role of leadership and its associated strategies for managing the changing nature of work alongside the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) being implemented by organizations. To comprehend the changing nature of work, we will draw on several management theories (e.g., paradox, self-determinantion and social dilemma theories) to uncover the strategic considerations underlying organizations’ transition to novel, digital forms of working and innovating.

 

The course will offer a fundamental coverage of the following topics:

  • Opportunities and challenges associated with new work practices involving novel, digital forms of organizing
  • Implication of new work practices on knowledge and innovation
  • Dynamics of managing digital work practices for collaboration, competitiveness and innovation
  • Role of digital technologies in facilitating knowledge work
  • Influence of leadership and cultural conditions on digital work practices
  • Influence of changing nature of work on identities and work lives in the age of digitalization

 

Students will participate in group work that is aimed at synthesizing knowledge to produce solutions for addressing contemporary issues with digital work practices in actual case companies.
Description of the teaching methods
This course embraces a blended learning structure that comprises a mix of in-class lectures and workshops combined with online activities. Students, in groups or individually, will build on theoretical concepts and case studies covered during in-class lectures and workshops to construct a mini project for the examination.
Feedback during the teaching period
Students will receive instructors’ and peer feedback during assignements and workshops.

Students will have the opportunity to present their work in progress in relation with their project exam and receive developmental feedback on it.
Student workload
Lectures 24 hours
Workshops 9 hours
Preparations for lectures 73 hours
Preparation for workshops 20 hours
Preparation for exam 80 hours
Further Information

3-week course that cannot be combined with any other course.

 

Preliminary Assignment: The course coordinator uploads Preliminary Assignment on Canvas at the end of May. It is expected that students participate as it will be included in the final exam, but the assignment is without independent assessment and grading.

 

 
Expected literature

 

Some references for the course. The full list of readings will be available on Canvas.

 

Barley, S. R., Bechky, B. A., & Milliken, F. J. (2017). The Changing Nature of Work: Careers, Identities, and Work Lives in the 21st Century. Academy of Management Discoveries, 3(2), 111–115. https:/​/​doi.org/​10.5465/​amd.2017.0034

 

Dery, K., Sebastian, I. M., & van der Meulen, N. (2017). The Digital Workplace is Key to Digital Innovation. MIS Quarterly Executive, 16(2), 135–152.

 

Gal, U., Jensen, T. B., & Stein, M. K. (2020). Breaking the Vicious Cycle of Algorithmic Management: A Virtue Ethics Approach to People Analytics. Information and Organization, 30(2), 100301.

 

Newell, S., Morton, J., Marabelli, M., & Galliers, R. (2020). Managing Digital innovation. Springer Nature.

 

Razmerita, L., Brun, A., & Nabeth, T. (2021). Collaboration in the Machine Age: Trustworthy Human-AI Collaboration. forthcoming in M. Virvou, G. Tsihrintzis, & J. Lakhmi (Eds.), Advances in Selected Artificial Intelligence Areas - World Outstanding Women in Artificial Intelligence (p. 23). Springer Nature.

 

Schildt, H. (2017). Big Data and Organizational Design – The Brave New World of Algorithmic Management and Computer Augmented Transparency. Innovation, 19(1), 23-30.

 

 

 

 

 

 
Last updated on 28-02-2024