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| Detailed information |
| Pre-requisites |
(*)keine
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| Original study plan |
Bachelor's programme Business Administration 2025W |
| Learning Outcomes |
Competences |
| Students are able to recognize and explain the benefits and challenges of organizing and organization(s), and apply their knowledge to managerial and/or organizational practice.
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| Skills |
Knowledge |
Learning Outcomes
- LO2: They are capable of critically reflecting on this knowledge and recognize its implications on organizational and managerial prac¬tice.
- LO3: Students understand and critically reflect on selected cases of leading-edge practice.
- LO4: They can self-organize teams that are capable of creatively and extensively linking their knowledge about selected key areas of organization studies to particular practical issues (e.g. case from leading-edge practice).
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This course offers an introduction to selected topics in management and organization studies. In particular, it addresses questions such as
- what organizations are, how they are structured, and what the advantages and disadvantages of certain structural configurations are;
- what motivates people (in and beyond organizations)
- how people influence each other, and how organizations can organize both for an ethical use and against the misuse of power;
- how people relate to each other, thereby forming so-called social networks that in turn shape what individuals can and most likely will do;
- how organizations are part of and relate to society-as-a-whole.
These topics are discussed against the background of our society’s arguably most pressing challenges, namely environmental and social sustainability, digital transformation, and the increasing need for creativity/innovation
Learning Outcomes
- LO1: Students fundamentally understand selected key areas of organization studies (see course topics).
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| Criteria for evaluation |
The final grade reflects both individual achievment, namely the final exam (maximum 60 points) and team achievement, namely The Organization Hackathon (maximum 40 points). For a passing grade students need at least 50% on each part (i.e. a minimum of 30 points from the final exam and 20 points from the Hackathon).
If so, the final grade is given according to following grading scale:
| 87 – 100: | Excellent / Sehr Gut (1) |
| 75 – 86: | Good / Gut (2) |
| 63 – 74: | Satisfying / Befriedigend (3) |
| 50 – 62: | Sufficient / Genügend (4) |
| 0 – 49: | Fail / Nicht genügend (5) |
Syncronization of learning outcomes and assessments:
LO1: Written exam
LO2: Written exam has open questions; Hackathon task (team) asks for application of selected theory on managerial practice addressed in the practice talks.
LO3: Hackathon task
LO4: Hackathon evaluation is based on team performance.
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| Methods |
This course is divided into two parts: part I: Fundamentals of Mangement and Organization, and part II: Mangement and Organization Practice (including a team-based Hackathon).
Part I focuses on six selected topics fundamental to organization and mangement. To successfully participate in part I, students procede as follows:
- They prepare for the lecture by reading and reflecting on the mandatory text and watching the mandatory videos (see course schedule). They secure the fruits of this work by highlighting import parts of the texts and taking brief written notes.
- (a) They attend the lecture, (b) take notes (hard copies of the slides are an ideal tool for efficient and effective note taking), and (c) engage in the in-class discussions (each session reserves a couple of minutes for discussing a crucial aspect or prominent example with the colleague sitting next to them, and then share their joint insights with the class).
- The lectures are closely connected but not identical to the readings. Additional aspects and further background knowledge is presented. Lectures include mini cases, video material, and in-class discussion.
- Towards the end of the semester, students revisit their highlighted texts, the slides and, most importantly, all their notes in order to prepare for a successful final exam. This one-hour exam covers all mandatory readings as well as all lectures (slides).
Part II focuses on two selected examples of leading-edge managerial and/or organizational practice, presented by distinguished partcitioners (i.e. practice talk). This part begins with the formation of the Hackathon teams. The details of the team formation are announced in class two to three weeks prior to the first practice talk. To successfully participate in part II, teams hold a minimum of four in-person meetings as follows:
- The first meeting is dedicated to team building. Get to know each other and find out who possesses which prior knowledge and skills, and who has which interests, hobbies, experience etc. Note that success in the Hackathon hinges upon a team’s ability to efficiently coordinate such that each and everyone works according to their best abilities.
- Meetings two and three are held-back to-back with the practice talks. Teams gather after the talk to discuss what they have learnt, how they may interpret the talks differently, and what they think about the topics addressed. Again, talking notes is of the essence.
- The last meeting is the actual Hackathon. Teams meet in a location of their own choosing. The Hackathon begins with the teams receiving an email informing them how to download the task. This task is (a) closely connected to the practice talks and asks for both (b) a creative solution and (c) a profound line of argument rooted in the concepts presented in part I of this course. At the end of the four-and-a-half-hour Hackathon, teams submit their solutions, which are graded and further discussed in the final session of the course (i.e. Hackathon Debriefing Session).
- In the unlikely case that a team does not succeed in the Hackathon, they are eligible to participate as a team in the subsequent semester’s Hackathon.
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| Language |
(*)Deutsch und Englisch |
| Study material |
Organization
- Kieser A. 2019. Max Webers Analyse der Bürokratie. In: Kieser A. & Ebers M. Organisationstheorien: 45–62. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer. (english translation).
Organization Structure
- Lehner F., Auer-Rizzi W., Bauer R., Lehner J., Breit K. & Reber G. 2024. Skriptum Organisationsstruktur. Updated excerpts from "Organisationslehre für Wirtschaftsinformatiker", Munich: Hanser, 1991. (English translation).
Motivation
- Openstax. 2019. Organizational Behavior. Chapter 7: Work Motivation for Performance. pp. 199–246.
- Amabile, T. M. 1998. How to Kill Creativity. Harvard Business Review, 76(5): 77–87.
- Daniel Pink. 2009. The puzzle of motivation. TEDTalk video. minutes 1:20–12:24.
Power
Openstax (2019): Organizational Behavior. Chapter 13: Power and Politics, pp. 415-444.
Social Networks
- Ebers, M. 2019. Netzwerktheorie. In: Kieser A. & Ebers M. Organisationstheorien: 391-410. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer.
- English alternative: Scott, W. R., & Davis, G. 2016. pp. 263–271 of Chapter 11 ‘Networks in and Around Organizations‘. In: Organizations and Organizing: Rational, Natural and Open Systems Perspectives. Routledge.
- Perry-Smith J. 2016. What helps unlock your inner creativity? - Ted Talk. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceobsQo3O38
Reflections
- Mintzberg, H. 2003. The Structuring of Organizations. In: H. Mintzberg, J. Lampel, J.B. Quinn & S. Ghoshal (eds.): The Strategy Process. Concepts, Contexts, Cases. Upper Saddle River (NJ): Prentice Hall, pp. 209-226.
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| Changing subject? |
No |
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