Syllabus for Perspectives on Management and Control

Decisions and guidelines

The course is offered to exchange students.

Learning outcomes

This aim of the course is to provide students who are interested in working with management issues in general, or with the many different aspects of control in organisations, with a broad understanding of these issues but also with some practical experience.

Upon completing the course, the student will be able to:

• understand how owners and principals, other stakeholders as well as norms in society, influence management and control in organisations,
• understand and discuss concepts and perspectives related to theories of management control and organisation theory, and critically reflect upon these,
• understand the foundations and origins of strategies, methods and techniques of management and control,
• use interdisciplinary perspectives from theories of management control and organisation theory to analyse and solve problems in organisations,
• communicate, orally and in writing, his/her results and conclusions.

Content

Members and participants - whether managers or co-workers - in organisations face a number of challenges connected to the effective management and control of an organisation, whether a business firm, a public authority or a voluntary association. These challenges drive from two main sources:

• the external environment of stakeholders (customers, suppliers, principals, media, etc.),
• the internal organisational operations, activities and processes.

These, often conflicting, expectations and demands shape a complex reality of problems and dilemmas that confronts managers every day. They create the restrictions on what forms of management and control that can be applied in different situations and settings, but offer also possibilities for success.

During the course students will be confronted with typical managerial problems, and will be guided in how to solve these problems from a sound theoretical base of knowledge.

The issues of this course are central to the fields of Management Control and Management and Organisation respectively. Findings and insights from these two fields are combined in this course and the course is divided evenly between the two.

Instruction

The course takes a problem-based learning approach and it builds on central concepts and issues within the field of management and control. Based on student input, a combination of lectures/guest lectures, seminars with student-based activities as well as problem-based assignments and written reports will be used to further develop the students' understanding of the topics raised. Students will work in study groups. Active participation is required. The course is taught in English.

Assessment

The examination consists of the modules:

1. Individual and group assignments, 7,5 credits (U, G, VG)
2. Written exam, 7,5 credits (U, G, VG)

and one grade for the whole course, 15 credits.

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 graded except under special circumstances. Any remaining supplemental work must be completed and handed in by the deadline specified in the study guide. To receive a grade G for the whole course, the student must have achieved at least a grade G in both examination modules. In addition, to receive a grade VG for the whole course, the student must have achieved a grade VG in both modules.

For students who have not received a passing grade for Module 1 and/or 2, there is the opportunity to be examined without re-registration via make-up examination.

 

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

The course substitutes/overlaps among others: Management and Control 2FE412.