Dr Lucia Garcia-Lorenzo QUE.3.23

This course is available on the Global MSc in Management, Global MSc in Management (CEMS MIM), Global MSc in Management (MBA Exchange), MSc in Behavioural Science, MSc in Human Resources and Organisations (Organisational Behaviour), MSc in Organisational and Social Psychology, MSc in Psychology of Economic Life, MSc in Social and Cultural Psychology and MSc in Social and Public Communication. This course is available with permission as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit.

The course explores organisations in the 21st century and the challenges they face. We particularly focus on what we can accomplish through the acquisition and creation of new management and organising knowledge; its sharing and transmission as well as how we can improve its use. We will explore the processes of knowing and learning and the varied ways in which they support people working in a number of contexts, from project teams within single organisations to inter-organisational partnerships, networks and alliances. We will work together in lectures, seminars and workshops to understand both theoretically and practically how we create, disseminate and share knowledge in all types of 21st century organisations and work settings.

Concretely, the course addresses the following questions :

1. What is organisational knowledge? Lectures will explore the differences and overlaps between personal, social/organisational and cultural knowledge and between the processes of learning and knowing.

2. How do we create new knowledge in organisations and work settings? To answer this question we will look into processes of creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship.

3. How can we efficiently share/transmit knowledge in organisations? The course will address the challenges generated through the use of new technologies in the work place, the use of stories and narratives as a mode of knowledge transmission, the development of collaborative practices, and power relations in organisations.

4. How do we 'store' and use current organisational and personal knowledge? To answer this question lectures will address the uses of organisational history and memory as well as look into how we practice knowledge in every day organisational work.

The focus of the course is both theoretical and practical. Students' will be expected to engage with both current theoretical debates and emerging practical issues in organisational life through lectures, seminars and practical workshops.

10 hours of lectures and 10 hours of seminars in the WT.

Students will be expected to make extended use of the course intranet - for on-line discussions and group presentations.

Students will be expected to produce 1 piece of coursework in the WT.

Reading lists will be provided for each topic, the following are introductory texts of general use: Amabile, T. A., & Khaire, M. (2008). Creativity and the role of the leader. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business School Publishing; Davenport, T.H. & Prusak, L. (1998). Working knowledge: How organisations manage what they know. Harvard Business Press; Drucker, P. (2014). Innovation and entrepreneurship. Routledge; Gabriel, Y. (Ed.). (2004). Myths, stories, and organizations: Premodern narratives for our times. Oxford University Press on Demand; Huxham, C., & Vangen, S. (2013). Managing to collaborate: The theory and practice of collaborative advantage. Routledge; Weick, K. E. (1995) Sensemaking in organisations. London: Sage.

“I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.” Mark Twain. If you like to read/use social media, you might want to look beyond academic materials into these other sources of knowledge that explore topics we will discuss in the course: Bregman, R. (2017). Utopia for realists: And how we can get there. Bloomsbury Publishing; Clay, A., & Phillips, K. M. (2016). The Misfit Economy: Lessons in Creativity from Pirates, Hackers, Gangsters and Other Informal Entrepreneurs. Simon and Schuster; Frayne, D. (2015). The refusal of work: The theory and practice of resistance to work. Zed Books Ltd.; Harari, Y. N. (2018). 21 Lessons for the 21st Century. Random House; How leaders use storytelling to share knowledge and influence followers: e.g. Obama's fire-up-ready-to-go story: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AhRqg0ADbk.; IDEO CEO Tim Brown talks about the powerful relationship between creative thinking and play: https://www.ted.com/talks/tim_brown_on_creativity_and_play?referrer=playlist-the_creative_spark

Essay (100%, 3000 words) in the WT.