300323 Organizations and Society (BS) (WiSe 2012/2013)

The course Organizations and Society is an advanced course in management and organization where the aim is to offer insight to the interplay between organizations and their environment. The starting point is that the outcome of organizational actions cannot only be understood as a consequence of management and leadership, we also need to understand this from a governance point of view, where not only the actions by managers are decisive for the outcome of organizations. Circumstances and incidents in the society also matters. More specifically this course offers insights about:

• The power of corporations and industries, past and present, in order to shape our world.
• The power of experts outside organizations (consultants in various areas).
• How forces in and outside of organizations are changing the management task, altering business operations, and modifying stakeholder expectations.
• That many of these environmental forces are global in nature.
• How influential ideas in the business environment shape the business-government-society relationship.
• The importance of policy, law and government regulation as a force guiding business behavior.
• Historical patterns in the business-government-society relationship, learning how the past shaped the present, and learning how present trends are shaping the future.
• The need to incorporate the knowledge of many fields through an interdisciplinary approach.
• The need to develop a tolerance for ambiguities in discussing issues about which knowledgeable observers reach different conclusions and to develop an understanding that there are no clear solutions to some problems.

It is of particular importance that individuals that are involved in processes of decision-making and discussions about strategy in organizations earn a capacity to handle the kind of challenges listed above. In larger organizations these are examples of issues the boards of directors have to consider while managers are more likely to pay more attention to issues that have to do with the running of every day businesses in organizations. The greater the insight of the managers in this, however, the more rational and sensible decisions they will be able to take.

The content of the course is divided into three themes.

First we focus on that no organization is an island. The learning objective (1) of this theme is to learn how to navigate on the organizational ocean.

In the second theme we focus on actors and actions outside organizations. The specific learning objective (2) here is to learn about the actors and actions in society that construct the organizational ocean.

In the third theme we set governance in focus and discuss the meaning of both corporate and transnational governance. The learning objective (3) here is to learn about how the organizational ocean can be governed.

To successfully pass the course students need to show insights in how organizations are interlinked with society in all dimensions listed above and demonstrate knowledge about all three learning objectives, based on the contents of the course presented in the course literature, lectures, seminars and other sessions in the course.

Furusten, Staffan, The Institutional Environment
Articles (in compendium or for downloading)
Case: Responsible Gambling

Bibliography

Steiner & Steiner, Business, Government, and Society: A managerial perspective, 12th Edition, McGraw-Hill (ebook available at McGraw-Hill eBookstore - detailed information as a download to this course)