General provisions

Master's Programme in Business and Management - specialisation Organisation.

Entry requirements

Strategy and Contemporary Issues, 15 credits. A Bachelor's degree, equivalent to a Swedish Kandidatexamen, from an internationally recognised university. Also required is 90 credits in business studies. Proficiency in English equivalent to the Swedish upper secondary course English 6. As all teaching takes place in English, very good language skills in English are a necessity to be able to partake in the course.

For incoming exchange students an introductory course at Master's level from previous studies is required. Exceptions can be made from the requirement of 90 credits in business studies, provided that special reasons are considered to exist.

Learning outcomes

Organisations are confronted daily with ideas, models and regulations on how their activities and operations should be organised and conducted. Some examples of ideas that have had a particularly strong impact are Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Evidence-Based Management (EBM), New Public Management (NPM), Agile/Scrum Organizations, Trust-based Governance, AI.

This course provides an insight into how expert organizations such as management consultants, think-tanks, lobbyists and the media create, popularize and help implement models and ideas in organizations across different industries, sectors and fields. The course aims to increase knowledge and understanding of how professionals occupying these expert organizations work to transform today's organizations - not least in relation to current social, ecological, ethical, cultural, political and economic challenges of our time.

After the course, students should be able to:

• identify, analyse and reflect on how different actors contribute to the creation and dissemination of management ideas,
• identify, analyse and critically discuss different management ideas that different actors introduce to today's organisations,
• understand the environment and processes through which actors such as management consultants, think tanks, lobbyists, the media and others are allowed to operate,
• discuss and critically reflect on how these actors work and the implications of their work for organisations and in relation to sustainability and Responsible Management challenges,
• independently and in groups locate, evaluate and present relevant scientific and popular science literature,
• develop skills in compiling and presenting scientific material by organising and conducting lectures, seminars and reading circles,
• develop presentation skills in oral, written and visual presentation.

Content

The course content is organised around four groups of actors that can be considered as particularly driving the creation, dissemination and implementation of management ideas in and between organisations: 1) policy-oriented knowledge producers - e.g. think-tanks; 2) commercial knowledge producers, e.g., management consultants; 3) research-based knowledge producers - e.g. universities and business schools, and 4) agenda-setting knowledge producers and disseminators - e.g. media. Each type of actor represents a teaching block in the course where students discuss and analyse management ideas from three pedagogical perspectives: introduction of a general theoretical framework (general theory), theoretical deepening in selected parts of this framework (applied theory) and empirical contextualisation and reflection (analysis).

Instruction

Students will be trained to orally and in writing reflect on and analyse key empirical and theoretical challenges related to how the different types of actors are changing today's organisations and thus our societies. This work is mainly done in groups while students work on an individual assignment that runs throughout the course.

The course consists of guest lectures, student-led lectures and seminars. The lectures aim to introduce broader theoretical arguments (general theory), around the overall theme of the course. The lectures will provide a deeper understanding of the underlying processes and dynamics in the production, dissemination and application of management ideas. A large part of the lectures aims at introducing, presenting and applying relevant theoretical arguments to the different stakeholder groups (applied theory). The guest lectures and seminars serve as empirical frameworks for the selected literature (analysis). The course is thought in English.

Assessment

The student will get one single grade, equivalent to 7.5 credits.

The course is examined by:

• Written exam (This is an individual assignment based on the literature covered in the course.)
• Lectures and seminars (Students are assessed in small groups where their ability to independently and critically research, summarise and present relevant literature during the course lectures and seminars is examined.)
• Written group assignments ('Learning memos') (Students are examined in groups on the basis of their assignments ('Learning memos').)

The grade for the entire course is based on an 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: pass with distinction (VG), pass (G), and fail (U). Examinations handed in late will not be assessed except under special circumstances. Any remaining supplemental work must be completed and handed in by the deadline specified in the study guide. Otherwise the entire course (all examinations included) must be retaken during subsequent course sections.

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 Management Consulting 2FE406, Consulting, Communication and Change (Contract Education) 8FE831 and Consulting, Communication and Change 2FE831.