General provisions

The course is given as a freestanding course. The course syllabus was approved by the board of The Department of Business Studies on delegation from the Faculty of Social Sciences.

Entry requirements

Completed 15 credits from basic courses (A-level) in business studies, and registered for another 15 credits at the same level.

Learning outcomes

The general aim of the course is to create an understanding of the behaviour of individuals, groups and organisations in different situations and contexts. This mainly concerns the understanding of consumers' role and behaviour and understanding of co-workers' role and behaviour in organisations as well as how this influences the behaviour of the group and the organisation.

On completion of the course, the student should be able to:

• understand and explain consumers' behaviour

• describe and analyse how different aspects of individuals, groups and organisations affect their ability to achieve enterprise goals

• apply basic knowledge of what determines human behaviour in order to analyse events and situations in the business economic practice

• reflect and relate critically to the various models presented in the readings

• relate the knowledge acquired in the course to knowledge of organisation and marketing acquired at the previous levels along with knowledge obtained in parallel courses on management control.

• summarise complex information and make qualified written presentations

• evaluate other students' analyses and solutions on organisational and market problems

• participate and develop the ability to cooperation through e g group assignments.

Content

The course is organised around a number of topics with practical connection. The overall question has to do with the ways in which different individual, group and organisational characteristics affect an organisation's ability to communicate internally and externally. Further, the course gives an in-depth picture of how companies work practically in market issues and how the organisation can get people to work toward common goals. The course also creates an awareness and an understanding of the forces and the dynamics at work in human processes in the working life. The broad areas addressed include consumer behaviour and organisational behaviour.

Instruction

The course is given in Swedish with mainly English literature. The course is completely web-based and is based on self-study. Information about different activities is available on the website of the course. The course does not require any physical attendance. The communication between participating students and teachers occurs mainly via the website of the course. This requires that the participants have access to Internet-connected computer and appropriate equipment according to instructions on the website of the course. The instructions are based on for example web-based lectures, individual written assignments and written assignments in groups.

Assessment

The student will get one single grade, equivalent to 15 credits.

The examination takes place continuously through individual and group wise written assignments and a memo carried out in groups. In addition, a written examination is organised for those who seek the grade Pass with distinction (VG). In order to write the VG exam, all obligatory course assignments must be approved. The grade for the entire course is based on assessment of all parts of the examination. Grading criteria are presented in the study guide that applies to the course section. The following grades will be used: VG (pass with distinction), G (pass) and U (fail). Examinations handed in late will not be assessed except under special circumstances. Any remaining supplemental work must be handed in by the deadline specified in the study guide.

A written test is offered to those students who did not obtain approved results on all assignments of the course, including the memo, during the course section. For students who have not obtained an approved result on the course, the entire course (all examinations included) must be retaken. This is only possible through re-registration during subsequent course sections, pending availability on the course.

If there are special reasons for doing so, an examiner may make an exception from the method of assessment indicated and allow a student to be assessed by another method. An example of special reasons might be a certificate regarding special pedagogical support from the University's disability coordinator.

Uppsala University does not accept cheating or plagiarism. Suspected incidents of cheating or plagiarism are reported to the Vice-Chancellor, which may issue a formal warning to the student or suspend the student from studies for a certain period.

NOTE: Only completed courses can count toward a degree.

Other directives

This course replaces/overlaps among others Marketing, consumers and companies 2FE201, 2FE205, Marketing B 2FE954, 2FE282, Organisational Behaviour 2FE956, Organisational Behaviour 2FE615, 2FE203, 2FE207, 2FE223, Basic Marketing 2 2FE998, Organisation Studies II: The Organisation and its Environment 2FE996 and Marketing and organisation II 2FE251.