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2024/2025  BA-BSSIO2002U  Social Practice in Innovation and Services

English Title
Social Practice in Innovation and Services

Course information

Language English
Course ECTS 7.5 ECTS
Type Mandatory (also offered as elective)
Level Bachelor
Duration One Quarter
Start time of the course Third Quarter
Timetable Course schedule will be posted at calendar.cbs.dk
Study board
Study Board for BSc in Service Management
Course coordinator
  • Adriana Budeanu - Department of Business Humanities and Law (BHL)
  • Søren Henning Jensen - Department of Business Humanities and Law (BHL)
Main academic disciplines
  • Innovation
  • Service management
Teaching methods
  • Blended learning
Last updated on 28-05-2024

Relevant links

Learning objectives
To achieve the grade 12, students should meet the following learning objectives with no or only minor mistakes or errors in both exams (part 1 & 2):
  • Identify, diagnose and argue for theory-based approaches to studying service and innovation as social practices
  • Relate concepts models and theories to empirical evidence
  • Assess the relationships between innovation and service practices, and demonstrate an understanding of their implications at organizational and societal levels
  • Apply critical and reflective skills in individual and collective learning activities
  • Construct and sustain coherent arguments based upon an understanding of competing perspectives presented during the course
Course prerequisites
Basic understanding about innovation strategy
Basic understanding about service management
Examination
The exam in the subject consists of two parts:
Part 1: Social Practice in Innovation and Services:
Sub exam weight25%
Examination formHome assignment - written product
Individual or group examIndividual exam
Size of written productMax. 5 pages
Assignment typeEssay
Release of assignmentAn assigned subject is released in class
DurationWritten product to be submitted on specified date and time.
Grading scale7-point grading scale
Examiner(s)Internal examiner and second internal examiner
Exam periodSpring
Make-up exam/re-exam
Same examination form as the ordinary exam
Description of the exam procedure

The individual assignment is a separate product from the written group project, and is an essay based on personal reflections on a subject relevant to the course subject, performed and recorded each week during specific sessions throughout the course. The grade for the individual assignment is different from the grade received after the group project, and counts as 25% of the final grade for this course.

Part 2: Social Practice in Innovation and Services:
Sub exam weight75%
Examination formHome assignment - written product
Individual or group examGroup exam
Please note the rules in the Programme Regulations about identification of individual contributions.
Number of people in the group3-4
Size of written productMax. 10 pages
Individual projects are not accepted for this exam.
Assignment typeProject
Release of assignmentAn assigned subject is released in class
DurationWritten product to be submitted on specified date and time.
Grading scale7-point grading scale
Examiner(s)Internal examiner and second internal examiner
Exam periodSpring
Make-up exam/re-exam
Same examination form as the ordinary exam
Students who did not submit a project for the written exam, must apply for exemption in order to submit an individual project.
Description of the exam procedure

The grade counts as 75% of the final grade for this course.

Course content, structure and pedagogical approach

This course introduces students to cultural and sociological perspectives, which examine services as part of everyday practice and explores interactions between providers and users in order to better understand the bilateral processes of “serving” and “being served”. In the context of this course, services are to be understood as more than the mere use of objects, technology and infrastructure; they are routines constructed at the confluence of multiple factors including, but are not limited to, material artefacts. Throughout the course, students will learn how by co-structuring the role of objects, technology and infrastructure we can analyse them without collapsing into technological determinism. In this context, the course will give particular attention and emphasis to the study of digital services and digitalization as a social phenomena. Furthermore, students are introduced - through intellectual exploration and reflection on personal experiences with services as ‘practice’ - to the role that perceptions and norms have in shaping the collaborative nature of service production. Equipped with a refined understandings of services as 'practice', students will draw implications for innovation and management in organizations.

Description of the teaching methods
The course is delivered in a blended learning format, through a combination of online/on campus and offline/pre-recorded lectures. Students are expected to take active part in class/group discussions and to perform exercises which are related to course content.

One third of sessions in this course are dedicated to exploring embodied experiences of social practices from “within”, when students use reflexivity as a tool for examining how elements of social practices change and transform over time. Although teaching staff will provide suitable assistance, during these sessions students work individually and analyse personal experiences of social practices using individual reflections as a method for data collection. Cumulated output from individual work will be submitted as individual home assignment (examination part 1).

Two thirds of the sessions in this course are dedicated to the examination of social practices in business contexts by focusing on a few selected service sectors. Combining theoretical instruction with real-life cases, these sessions will also prepare students with methodological training adequate for exploring service innovations as social practices. Preparation in advance and live attendance are essential conditions for assimilating knowledge from these sessions, when students will work in (self-organized) groups under the guidance of teaching staff, preparing the final group project (examination part 2).
Feedback during the teaching period
Students will receive continuous feedback on their participation in class activities and exercises. Therefore, students are expected to attend lectures, to come prepared and ready to actively engage in class discussions. Groups will receive feedback and guidance from the teacher throughout the course. Specific questions will be addressed during classes and office hours (upon appointment with the teacher).
Student workload
Preparation for classes 90 hours
Lectures 38 hours
Preparation and exam 86 hours
Expected literature

Course bibliography will be uploaded on CBS Canvas prior to the start of the course.

Last updated on 28-05-2024