996004 Networked Organizations: Regulation, Social Networks and Systemic Risks (S) (SoSe 2010)

The recent events in the financial markets demonstrate that risk in the business world stems less from individual organizations and more from the dense network of connections that tie organizations together. In this course, we will examine how the network of connections that makes up today's global economy evolves, how it affects corporate governance and how it can turn into a source of risk. By using empirical cases taken from the business world (for example, the connections between boards of directors, cross-ownerships among companies) we will demonstrate how different structures of connectedness among organizations challenge accepted concepts in today's corporate governance and how they call for a new type of risk management.

The course provides an interdisciplinary approach that builds on concepts from accounting and finance, but also draws on bodies of knowledge from physics and structural sociology to provide an analytical picture of contemporary business organizations.

Requirements for participation, required level

A first degree or equivalent in either Sociology, Economics, History or Political Science is required.

Bibliography

Burt, R. (2007) Brokerage and Closure: An Introduction to Social Capita. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

de Nooy, W., Andrej Mrvar and Vladimir Batagelj (2005) Exploratory Social Network Analysis with Pajek. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Scott, J. (2000) Social Network Analysis: A Handbook. London: Sage Publications.