The course is designed to expose students to the contemporary challenges facing organizations and managers. The course combines perspectives from organization theory, organizational behavior, and international business to examine how organizations are structured and people are managed across diverse contexts. The topics covered include: organizational structure and design, strategic management, leadership and motivation, organizational culture, and cross-cultural management. 

The course is structured in two sections:

Individuals, teams, and organizations (micro and meso): This section focuses on the strategic and managerial context of organizational behavior. It examines organizational structure and design, individual behaviors and processes in organizations, and how to integrate business strategy and organizational behavior. A particular emphasis in this section is to understand the factors that influence external (organization-environment) and internal (individual-organization) fit/misfit.

Organizations and environments (meso and macro): This section focuses on the embeddedness of organizations in diverse institutional and cultural environments, the resulting strategic challenges and opportunities, and the requirements for effectively managing people, talent, and a diverse workforce. A particular emphasis is on international and multinational organizations that cross national and cultural borders.

Active engagement is a firm requirement of this course – which means that students are expected to attend all sessions and prepare the assigned readings and course materials before each module. The sessions will include a theoretical input component, discussion of practical implications, and group activities.

Participation is mandatory. Students can miss up to one module in total. It is recommended that students save their absence allowance for cases of illness. The attendance requirement largely aligns with WU’s guidelines for PI courses, in that students who fail to meet the attendance requirement have to be de-registered from the course as quickly as possible (with a “fail” grade or ungraded).

(https://www.wu.ac.at/en/staff/information-for-teachers/courses-exams-and-theses/continuous-assessment-course-pi/)

Students are only permitted to attend the course for which they are registered – as attendance and group work are tied to the specific sections.

Arriving late or leaving early counts toward students’ absences. Students are not requested to inform the instructors in advance if they miss class fully or partially. Instead, if students join classes late or leave earlier, they are required to sign the ‘lateness’ sheet, indicating the reasons for coming late or leaving earlier as well as the time missed.

Group assessment:

• Summary reports from group discussions (30%)

Individual assessment:

• Peer evaluation (10%)
• Reflection on key learning points (20%)
• Final examination [multiple choice] (30%)
• Class attendance (10%)

Grading scheme (total 100%):

All grade points will be recorded in the Gradebook on Canvas. Late or missed submissions, as well as those that are flagged by the plagiarism check, will result in a grade of ‘0’ – without exception. Please note that all group members are accountable for adhering to the plagiarism policies of the university. Cases of plagiarism will be reported to Study Services, which results in failing the course and possible suspensions from studies.

Points are not rounded arithmetically. Any divergences or alternative procedures require announcement prior to the course starts so not to jeopardize the integrity of the grading process. Similarly, compensatory assignments are not usually offered to students.

It is students’ responsibility to familiarize themselves with the basics of good academic practice prior to the start of the course. Equally, they need to know about the various facets of plagiarism and academic fraud, such as

“- Copying from other students (e.g. in written homework)

- Failure to use correct citations in written performance components

- Handing in the same written work in different courses without including a note in
  the paper indicating that it has been submitted more than once (self-plagiarism)”

 (https://www.wu.ac.at/en/students/my-program/bachelors-student-guide/courses-and-exams/plagiate-neu)

AI-based software and tools of all kinds (e.g., ChatGPT, Bard, Grammarly, etc.) are not authorized for this course. Students are expected to conduct their own, independent research, and for both written and oral assignments, are expected to use their own words. This applies especially when personal reflections and the expression of students’ own opinions/analyses are concerned. All submitted assignments are automatically checked for plagiarism and usage of AI. In suspicious cases, audit interviews will not be conducted.