Course Brief

The aims of this course are:

  • To attain a critical understanding of the challenges that face practising managers in the complex contemporary
    operating environment.
  • To contribute to the development of a set of analytical skills that equips the contemporary manager for the
    challenges presented in the contemporary organizational milieu.

  • This course is offered in 30 hours

On successful completion of this course a student will be able to:

  1. Demonstrate critical knowledge and understanding of current debates about how, through effective
    management, organizations interact with and respond to their complex operating environments.
  2. Demonstrate critical knowledge and understanding of advanced social science concepts relating to managing and working with people for performance in the contemporary organizational domain.
  3. Display a critical awareness of a range of often apparently conflicting and contradictory schools of
    management and social science thought requiring them to make informed analytical judgement.
  4. Debate ethical dilemmas and stakeholder conflict related to management practice in the contemporary sphere and be able to debate and seek to resolve them.
  5. Be intellectually curious, responsive to challenges, and demonstrate initiative and resilience.
  6. Communicate clearly and effectively, in a range of forms, taking account of different audiences.
  • The dynamic context of management
  • The political economy of globalization
  • Rich world, poor world
  • Negotiating the networked society
  • The firm: structure and design
  • The state
  • Supranational institutions of governance
  • Capitalism and social responsibility
  • Sustainability
  • Time and temporality
  • Governance, management and power
  • Social movements and resistance

In addition to weekly lectures which will expose learners to discussion on key debates and contemporary events,
learners will participate in weekly seminar sessions where they will be encouraged to link concepts, apply theory real life examples (for example through case studies and multimedia expositions) and engage in group discussions and problem solving exercises.

1 written coursework

  • The aims of this course are:

    • To attain a critical understanding of the challenges that face practising managers in the complex contemporary
      operating environment.
    • To contribute to the development of a set of analytical skills that equips the contemporary manager for the
      challenges presented in the contemporary organizational milieu.