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2024/2025  KAN-CINTO1013U  Technology and Organization in a Digital World

English Title
Technology and Organization in a Digital World

Course information

Language English
Course ECTS 7.5 ECTS
Type Mandatory (also offered as elective)
Level Full Degree Master
Duration One Semester
Start time of the course Spring
Timetable Course schedule will be posted at calendar.cbs.dk
Study board
Study Board for BSc/MSc in Business Administration and Information Systems, MSc
Course coordinator
  • Olivia Benfeldt - Department of Digitalisation (DIGI)
Main academic disciplines
  • Information technology
  • Organisation
Teaching methods
  • Blended learning
Last updated on 20-06-2024

Relevant links

Learning objectives
To achieve the grade 12, the student should meet the following learning objectives with no or only minor mistakes or errors:
  • Identify and explain the perspectives on technology and organization presented in the course, including their underlying assumptions
  • Apply the perspectives on real cases to analyze technologies in their social and organizational context
  • Compare the insights from the application of perspectives on real cases
  • Critically evaluate practical implications resulting from the interplay between technology and organization and propose improvements at an independent and reflected academic level
Examination
Technology and Organization in a Digital World:
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 Written assignment
Release of assignment The Assignment is released in Digital Exam (DE) at exam start
Duration 72 hours to prepare
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
Description of the exam procedure

The final examination and assessment are based on the individual written report. The topic of the final examination is a case study that is to be critically analyzed using the perspectives discussed in class. The instructors will provide the case study material to the students as part of the exam assignment. The case study may be supplemented with additional material provided to the students in class. The re-take exam takes place in August. The re-take exam is the same examination form as the regular exam.

Course content, structure and pedagogical approach

Developing and implementing information systems (IS) in and across organizational contexts is a rather multifaceted challenge that does not only involve their design, but also the development of supportive social frameworks, institutional structures as well as normative conventions that complement and reinforce their adoption and diffusion at large. Therefore, investigating the technological nature of IS without examining their prevalent social aspects yields an incomplete and somewhat shortsighted understanding of the underlying issues at stake.
 
Thus far, the prevailing discourse in IS has had a techno-centric orientation in spite of the far-reaching social ramifications of these systems. The aim of this course is to move beyond this focus and to include additional ways of describing and analyzing the interrelationship between technology and people in organizations. The course will enable the students to unfold how organizational life is constructed and managed by technology and how social relations influence the technology's ability to contribute to a company's success. We do so by exploring social, organizational, and technological aspects of information systems by building on various perspectives, such as technological determinism, actor-networks, social construction of technology, institutional structures, sensemaking processes, and other approaches used in organization studies. In particular, the course builds on perspectives that explain, apply, build on, and/or compare social aspects of information systems.
 
The unifying themes that we wish to discuss in the course are: what assumptions about the design, implementation, and use of information systems are embedded in the perspectives? What are the strengths and weaknesses of these perspectives in terms of understanding the interplay between technology and organization, including individual and collective practices with respect to the design and use of technology? How can the different perspectives be applied to real cases of technology use in organizations and what are the practical implications? How do social relations influence the technology's ability to contribute to a company's success?

The course's development of personal competences:
This course will provide students with deep knowledge and develop their analytical skills in analyzing how information systems impact social relations and organizational structures in organizations. Students will gain an understanding of the context, including ethical dilemmas, that guide how social relations influence the design, implementation and adoption of IS. In this respect, the course will enhance the students' understanding of the complexity of information systems that can guide leadership actions in practice.

Description of the teaching methods
The course adopts a blended learning format based on course readings, pre-recorded video lectures, quizzes, workshops, guest presentations from industry and assignments.

Video lectures provide a brief presentation of the perspectives and theories covered in class, while the quizzes are used to test the students' understanding of the material.

The workshops are student-led, and focus on the application of different perspectives and theories covered in class for analysis of case material. Students work in groups and engage in plenary discussion.

The guest presentations feature speakers from industry who share their experiences and insights from practice.

Students are expected to hand in two assignments as part of the course. These assignments help students prepare for the final exam assignment and provide them with formative feedback.
Feedback during the teaching period
Feedback to students is designed into the course through case discussions every second week. Students will work on case analyses in groups, allowing for peer feedback. Students present their case analysis results and also receive teacher feedback.

The course also includes guest presentations by industry executives, providing feedback and reflection opportunities on how the perspectives covered during the course inform practice. Students do two written assignments and receive feedback on their work.

Students will also get feedback on their understanding of the course material through quizzes.
Student workload
Self-study (readings, pre-recorded lectures, quizzes) 82 hours
Preparation for workshops 14 hours
Workshops 14 hours
Assignments 12 hours
Preparation for exam 12 hours
Exam 72 hours
Total 206 hours
Expected literature

The literature can be changed before the semester starts. Students are advised to find the final literature on Canvas prior to the course.

 

The course readings include academic peer-reviewed articles on the perspectives covered during the course (such as technological determinism, social construction of technology, sensemaking, etc.). 

 

For example:

  • Bijker W. (1995). King of the Road: The Social Construction of the Safety Bicycle. In “Of Bicycles, Bakelite and Bulbs: Toward a Theory of Sociotechnical Change”, Bijker W., MIT Press, pp.19-100.
  • Möhlmann, M., Alves de Lima Salge, C. and Marabelli, M. (2023). Algorithm Sensemaking: How Platform Workers Make Sense of Algorithmic Management. Journal of the Association for Information Systems, 24(1), pp. 35-64.
  • Orlikowski W. and Iacono S. (2001). Desperately Seeking the IT in IT Research: a Call to Theorizing the IT Artefact. Information Systems Research, 12(2), pp. 121-134.
  • Weick, K. E., K. M. Sutcliffe, et al. (2005). Organizing and the Process of Sensemaking. Organization Science, 16(4), pp. 409-421.
  • Winner L., (1980). Do Artifacts Have Politics? Daedalus, 109(1), pp. 121-136.
Last updated on 20-06-2024