Economic Structure of Organisations
Code: 104802 ECTS Credits: 6| Degree | Type | Year | Semester |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2503868 Communication in Organisations | OT | 4 | 1 |
Contact
- Name:
- Emili Grifell Tatjé
- Email:
- emili.grifell@uab.cat
Use of Languages
- Principal working language:
- catalan (cat)
- Some groups entirely in English:
- No
- Some groups entirely in Catalan:
- Yes
- Some groups entirely in Spanish:
- No
Prerequisites
There are no specific prerequisites. It will be adapted to the context of communication students.
Objectives and Contextualisation
At the end of the course, the student is expected to have achieved a series of objectives that include knowledge of the basic concepts and instruments commonly used in the organizational and economic context of the firm.
Competences
- Analyse and evaluate the structures of the different types of organisations, of the Media and of the relationship between the two.
- Manage time efficiently and plan for short-, medium- and long-term tasks.
- Students must be capable of collecting and interpreting relevant data (usually within their area of study) in order to make statements that reflect social, scientific or ethical relevant issues.
- Students must develop the necessary learning skills to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
Learning Outcomes
- Describe the fundamentals of organisations' business structures in order to generate original ideas about the context.
- Explain the functioning of organisations in the context of the general economy.
- Submit high-quality coursework on time, which requires attention to both individual and group work.
- Work independently to solve problems and take strategic decisions on the basis of the knowledge acquired.
Content
The course considers the business organization as the central object of study. Its main objective is to contribute to the understanding of how organizations generate value and what are the causes that explain the differences in value generated among them. This course will study the link between the organization and its environment, as well as the importance of knowing how to correctly identify both the internal and external factors of the organization and discover the possible interrelationships between them. The course is clearly intended to show that it is possible to apply some theoretical concepts that are now becoming useful tools for the analysis of organizations.
1. An example to help us to think about the importance of the organization.
2. The organization and its stakeholders.
3. The organization and decision making.
4. The organization as a value generator.
5. A case study: Walmart "the winner".
6. A case study: Kmart "the loser".
7. A case study nearby: ATLL.
8. The output of the organization: products and services.
9. Benchmarking the organization.
10. The accounting representation of the organization.
11. The organization and its financial needs.
Methodology
The course seeks to analyze the organizational decisions of the firm in an economic context.
Therefore, it is necessary to
1.Expose the main concepts and theories.
This will be done through lectures and additional readings.
2. Exercises to reinforce the understanding of the concepts.
This will be done through problem solving in the practical classes. Also in these practical classes the active participation of the students is pursued through the search of news published in the general media or specialized in economics or business.
3 Applications to analyze concrete problems of reality.
This will be done through the study of cases and other examples from economic news.
The teaching methodology may undergo some modification depending on the dynamics of the group. The course gives great importance to the presence and active participation of the student.
Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.
Activities
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type: Directed | |||
| Practical classes | 17 | 0.68 | 2, 4 |
| Theoretical classes | 32.5 | 1.3 | 1, 2 |
| Type: Supervised | |||
| Tutorials | 15 | 0.6 | 1, 2 |
| Type: Autonomous | |||
| Study of theoretical concepts, elaboration of exercises and cases | 83.9 | 3.36 | 3, 4 |
Assessment
The evaluation of the course will consist of:
A final exam. In this exam, the student will be evaluated on the basis of all the contents presented throughout the course. The mark of the final exam will count 35% of the final mark of the course. The remaining 65% will be based on the student's performance in the course.
The course is passed when the final mark is equal to or higher than 5.0 (five).
Evaluation of student performance: A good performance requires: i) class attendance and active participation. Class attendance will be monitored and is expected to be no less than 80%; and (ii) submission of scheduled exercises and activities. The scheduled exercises and activities consist of: (ii.1) problem solving covering some topics of the course; (ii.2) development and presentation in class of material related to the contents of the course; (ii.3) a written paper on a topic directly related to the content of the course. All these aspects (i) class attendance and (ii) the delivery of exercises and the completion of the programmed activities will be supervised during the course and will result in a mark, which will count up to 65% of the final mark of the course.
Those students who do not take the final exam will be considered "no-shows" ("not evaluable").
At the end of the course, the final marks will be published. The final mark for the course is the result of weighting the different aspects subject to evaluation: The weight of the exam is 35% and the weight of the activities the 65%.
Retake Process
"To be eligible to participate in the retake process, it is required for students to have been previously been evaluated for at least two thirds of the total evaluation activities of the subject." Section 3 of Article 112 ter. The recovery (UAB Academic Regulations). Additionally, it is required that the student to have achieved an average mark of the subject between 3.5 and 4.9.
The re-evaluation will consist of taking another final exam, which will include all the contents developed during the course. The student's performance (activities performed) will not be reevaluated. The re-evaluation consists only of the final re-evaluation exam. As a result of the final re-evaluation exam, the maximum mark for the course will be 5.0 (five).
Mark review procedure
Coinciding with the final exam, the day in which the final marks will be published will be announced. Likewise, the procedure, place, date and time of the exam review will be announced in accordance with the University regulations.
Irregularities in evaluation activities
In spite of other disciplinary measures deemed appropriate, and in accordance with current academic regulations, "in the case that the student makes any irregularity that could lead to a significant variation in the grade of an evaluation activity, it will be graded with a 0, regardless of the disciplinary process that can be instructed. In case of various irregularities occur in the evaluation of the same subject, the final grade of this subject will be 0". Section 10 of Article 116. Results of the evaluation. (UAB Academic Regulations).
The proposed evaluation activities may undergo some changes according to the restrictions imposed by the health authorities on on-campus courses.
Assessment Activities
| Title | Weighting | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Final Exam | 35% | 0.56 | 0.02 | 1, 2, 3, 4 |
| Problem resolution | 21% | 0.34 | 0.01 | 1, 2, 3, 4 |
| development and presentation | 22% | 0.35 | 0.01 | 1, 2, 3, 4 |
| written work | 22% | 0.35 | 0.01 | 1, 2, 3, 4 |
Bibliography
Books:
Acs, Z.J. and D.A. Gerlowski (1996), “Managerial Economics and Organization.” Prentice-Hall Inc (ISBN: 0-02-3002921).
Alegre Saz, L., C. Berne Manero, C. Galve Górriz (2000), “Fundamentos de la Empresa: Perspectiva Funcional.” Ariel Economia (ISBN 10: 8434421771).
Grifell-Tatjé, E. and C.A.K. Lovell (2015), Productivity Accounting. The Economics of Business Performance. Cambridge University Press: New York. (ISBN 978-0-521-88353-5).
Ricart, J.E., M.A, Rodríguez, P. Sanchez and L. Ventoso (2005), “The Sustainable Enterprise. Learning from DJSI Leaders.” Fundación BBVA. (ISBN: 84-8856223-3).
Articles:
Brandenburger, A.M. and H.W. Stuart (1996), "Value-Based Business Strategy". Journal of Economics and Management Strategy 5(1): 5-24.
Brea-Solís, H., R. and E. Grifell-Tatjé (2019), "A Business Model Analysis of Kmart's Downfall," International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management 47(2): 111-128.
Brea-Solís, H., R. Casadesus-Masanell & E. Grifell-Tatjé (2015), ”Business Model Evaluation: Quantifying Walmart’s Sources of Advantage,” Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal 9(1), 12-33.
Estache, A. & E. Grifell-Tatjé (2013), “How (un) even was the distribution of the impacts of Mali’s water privatization across stakeholders?” Journal of Development Studies 49(4), April: 483 – 499.
Garcia-Castro, R., J.E. Ricart, M.B. Lieberman and N. Balasubramanian (2018), "Business Model Innovation and Replication: Implications for the Measurement of Productivity" in E. Grifell-Tatjé, C.A.K. Lovell and R. Sickles, eds., The Oxford Handbook of Productivity Analysis, Oxford University Press: New York.
Grifell-Tatjé, E. & C.A.K. Lovell (1999), "Profits and Productivity”. Management Science. 45(9), September: 1177 – 1193.
Grifell-Tatjé, E.& C.A.K. Lovell (2013), “Advances in Cost Frontier Analysis of the Firm,” in C.R. Thomas and W. Shughart II (ed.), Oxford Handbook in Managerial Economics. Oxford University Press: Oxford: p 66 – 88.
Grifell-Tatjé, E., and C.A.K. Lovell (2018), “The Business Foundations of Social Economic Progress,” Business Research Quarterly, 21(4). 278-292. (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2340943618303244)
Winter, S.G. & G. Szulanski (2001), "Replication as Strategy," Organization Science 12(6), Nov/Dec: 730-743.
Software
The course will provide the software if needed.