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Sociology of Business

Code: 102304 ECTS Credits: 6

2024/2025

Degree	Type	Year
2501572 Business Administration and Management	OT	4
2501573 Economics	OT	3
2501573 Economics	OT	4

Contact

Name:: Clara Llorens Serrano
Email:: clara.llorens@uab.cat

Teaching groups languages

You can view this information at the end of this document.

Prerequisites

None.

Objectives and Contextualisation

The aim of the course is to give students tools to understand the company from a sociological perspective. It focuses on the various practices of labor management, work organization and production / service and its effects on the working and living conditions, considering the institutionalized industrial collective relations and their dynamics of conflict and cooperation within the company. It makes particular reference to the situation in Spain.

Competences

Business Administration and Management

Capacity for independent learning in the future, gaining more profound knowledge of previous areas or learning new topics.
Capacity for oral and written communication in Catalan, Spanish and English, which enables synthesis and oral and written presentation of the work carried out.
Demonstrate initiative and work individually when the situation requires it.
Demonstrate knowledge of the structure of institutions and the state, their evolution and the consequences of possible changes, to be able to make a positive contribution to the debate about the role they play in current society.
Identify improvements in the internal management process to stimulate company productivity.
Identify the economic agents that make up an economy, understanding how they have been interrelated to date, how they are currently interrelated and forecast futures according to new circumstances and their influence on a specific company.
Select and generate the information necessary for each problem, analyse it and take decisions based on that information.
Work well in a team, being able to argue proposals and validate or reject the arguments of others in a reasoned manner.

Economics

Capacity for independent learning in the future, gaining more profound knowledge of previous areas or learning new topics.
Demonstrate initiative and work individually when the situation requires it.
Demonstrate knowledge of the structure of institutions and the state, their evolution and the consequences of possible changes, to be able to make a positive contribution to the debate about the role they play in current society.
Identify improvements in the internal management process to stimulate company productivity.
Identify the economic agents that make up an economy, understanding how they have been interrelated to date, how they are currently interrelated and forecast futures according to new circumstances and their influence on a specific company.
Select and generate the information necessary for each problem, analyse it and take decisions based on that information.
Show motivation for carrying out quality work and sensitivity to the consequences for the environment and society.
Students must be capable of applying their knowledge to their work or vocation in a professional way and they should have building arguments and problem resolution skills within their area of study.
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 be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
Students must develop the necessary learning skills in order to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
Students must have and understand knowledge of an area of study built on the basis of general secondary education, and while it relies on some advanced textbooks it also includes some aspects coming from the forefront of its field of study.
Value ethical commitment in professional practice.
Work well in a team, being able to argue proposals and validate or reject the arguments of others in a reasoned manner.

Learning Outcomes

A capacity of oral and written communication in Catalan, Spanish and English, which allows them to summarise and present the work conducted both orally and in writing.
Analyse the role of regulation in the workplace in Spain.
Apply sociological analysis to current social structures.
Assess ethical commitment in professional activity.
Assess the interrelationships between companies and activity.
Capacity to continue future learning independently, acquiring further knowledge and exploring new areas of knowledge.
Demonstrate initiative and work independently when required.
Demonstrate motivation regarding the quality of the work performed and sensitivity regarding the consequences on the environment and society.
Identify ways of improving labour relations.
Interpret the basic principles of sociology.
Select and generate the information needed for each problem, analyse it and make decisions based on this information.
Students must be capable of applying their knowledge to their work or vocation in a professional way and they should have building arguments and problem resolution skills within their area of study.
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 be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
Students must develop the necessary learning skills in order to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
Students must have and understand knowledge of an area of study built on the basis of general secondary education, and while it relies on some advanced textbooks it also includes some aspects coming from the forefront of its field of study.
Work as part of a team and be able to argue own proposals and validate or refuse the arguments of others in a reasonable manner.

Content

1. Taylorism and Fordism

2. Socio-technical approach and lean production

3. Forms of working time flexibilization

4. Forms of contractual flexibility

5. Flexibility in the organization of production and service

6. Collective bargaining processes

7. Work, salaried work and labor market

8. Is there a social norm for the employment?

Activities and Methodology

Title	Hours	ECTS	Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed
Learning by doing	17	0.68	1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 17
Lectures	32.5	1.3	2, 3, 5, 6, 9, 10
Type: Supervised
Tutorials	5	0.2	2, 3, 5, 6, 9, 11
Type: Autonomous
Reading texts and class materials, teamwork and individual work	95.5	3.82	1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 17

Face to face teaching is planned for this subject. The work in teaching hours involves attending lectures and working and discussing cases or a specific issue, collectively, in small groups and in plenary. During the lectures, the specific concepts will be presented and the basic aspects of the subject will be deepened by considering cases that exemplify them. The dynamics of each of the activities will be detailed by the teaching staff. Attendance to the lessons, although not compulsory, will be evaluated and will also determine the content of the individual exam.

Autonomous external work is mandatory and evaluable. On the one hand, it involves the preparation in groups (4 people) of a written report of between 8 and 10 pages (6000 words). Beforehand, a minimum of 3 preparatory tutorials for evaluable deliveries will have to be attended, on the dates established by the pofessor, including oral presentations. The teaching staff will assign a labor management practice to each group regarding working time arrangements. The students will have to elaborate a brief conceptual framework, design, carry out and analyze an interview with a salaried worker in relation to the labour management practice and its effects on working and living conditions and identify and analyze its regulation in the applicable collective agreement. On the other hand, they have to study for an individual exam, test type on what was worked in the teaching hours and the corresponding texts of the basic bibliography.

The proposed teaching methodology may undergo some modifications according to the restrictions imposed by the health authorities on on-campus courses.

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.

Assessment

Continous Assessment Activities

Title	Weighting	Hours	ECTS	Learning Outcomes
Final exam	50%	0	0	1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17
Team work + attendance	50%	0	0	1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17

Throughout the course different evaluable activities will be carried out.

The groupal (4 people) work will be evaluated in two moments and will represent 45% of the final grade. On the one hand, the design of the interview will be evaluated, which will represent 20% of the group grade. The other 25% will count for the analysis of the interview and the discussion regarding the conceptual framework. The groupal work requires the attendance to a minimum of 3 tutorials in a mandatory manner, including oral presentations: the first, which will discuss the interview script and the selection of the person to interview (before the delivery of the first part of the work); the second, in which the first deliverable will be commented; the third, in which the analysis of the interview will be discussed.

Attendance in the classroom, during lecture and learning-by-doing hours, is not mandatory. However, a minimum attendance of 70% represents 5% of the grade, which evaluates the participation in the debates with the rest of the students and teaching staff in the classroom. Likewise, it will involve a different exam content. Students who have NOT attended a minimum of 70% of teaching hours, will do an exam on the basic bibliography of the subject. Students who has attended this minimum established, will have an exam on what was worked during the lecture and practice hours.

In both cases, the individual exam will be a test type and will represent 50% of the final grade. It will consist of 20 questions and the wrong answers or not answers will subtract 0.50.

In order to access the calculation of the final grade, the group part and the individual examination must be approved with sufficiency separately, which will not average between them, but will be retaken autonomously. Students who have not submitted the group activities or do not perform the individual exam willnot be evaluated.

This subject does not offer the option for comprehensive evaluation.

Calendar of evaluation activities

The dates of the evaluation activities (midterm exams, exercises in the classroom, assignments, ...) will be announced well in advance during the semester.

The date of the final exam is scheduled in the assessment calendar of the Faculty.

"The dates of evaluation activities cannot be modified, unless there is an exceptional and duly justified reason why an evaluation activity cannot be carried out. In this case, the degree coordinator will contact both the teaching staff and the affected student, and a new date will be scheduled within the same academic period to make up for the missed evaluation activity." Section 1 of Article 264. Calendar of evaluation activities (Academic Regulations UAB).

Students of the Faculty of Economics and Business, who in accordance with the previous paragraph need to change an evaluation activity date must process the request by filling out an Application for exams' reschedule: e-Formulari per a la reprogramació de proves.

Grade revision process

After all grading activities have ended, students will be informed of the date and way in which the course grades will be published. Students will be also be informed of the procedure, place, date and time of grade revision following University regulations.

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 2 of Article 261. The recovery (UAB Academic Regulations). Additionally, it is required that the student to have achieved an average grade of the subject greater than or equal to 3.5 and less than 5.

The date of the retake exam will be posted in the calendar of evaluation activities of the Faculty. Students who take this exam and pass, will get a grade of 5 for the subject. If the student does not pass the retake, the grade will remain unchanged, and hence, student will fail the course.

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 11 of Article 266. Results of the evaluation. (UAB Academic Regulations).

Bibliography

BASIC BIBLIOGRAPHY:

1. Taylorism and fordism

- Finkel, L. (1994), “F. W. Taylor: la dirección científica”, “La producción en masa”, “La tesis de la descualificación: Braverman” y “La tradición del análisis del proceso de trabajo” en Finkel, L. (1994): La organización social del trabajo, Madrid, Pirámide.

- Moncada S. y Llorens C. (2007) “Factores psicosociales” y Page A. y García-Molina C. “Ergonomía” en Ruiz-Frutos C. y García A.M., Delclòs J. y Benavides F., (2007): Salud Laboral. Conceptos y técnicas para la prevención de riesgos laborales. 3 a edición, Ed. Masson, Barcelona.

2. Socio-technical approach and lean production

- Prida B. (1988): “Viejas y nuevas formas de organizar el trabajo” en Garmendia y otros (1988) Sociología industrial y de la empresa. Ed Aguilar, Madrid. (TAMBÉ PER A TEMA 1)

- Köhler, H-D. y Martín Artiles, A. (2005): “La producción ligera” y “El enfoque sociotécnico y el sistema de producción reflexivo”, a Köhler, H-D. y Martín Artiles, A.: Manual de la sociología del trabajo y de las relaciones laborales, Madrid, Delta.

- Sisson, K. (1996): La participación directaen el cambio organizativo. Acortar distancias, ideas y práctica, Fundación Europea para la Mejora de las Condiciones de Vida y Trabajo, Dublín.

3. Forms of working time flexibilization

- Carrasco C. y otros (2003): “Flexibilidad productiva y cambios en los tiempos de trabajo” en Carrasco C, Alabart A, Coco A, Domínguez M, Martínez A, Mayordomo M, Recio A, Serrano M. (2003): Tiempos, trabajos y flexibilidad: una cuestión de género. N 78. Instituto de la Mujer, Madrid, Ministerio de Trabajo y Asuntos Sociales.

- Carrasco C y Recio A (2014): “Del tiempo medido a los tiempos vividos” en Revista de Economía Crítica nº 17, accessible en http://revistaeconomiacritica.org/sites/default/files/revistas/n17/05_Carrasco-Recio_DelTiempoMedido.pdf

4. Forms of contractual flexibility

- Pitxer J, Sánchez A, Lorente R. 2016. “Dinámica del modelo productivo y extensión de la temporalidad en el mercado laboral espanyol”. En: Rocha F y Beneyto P (Dirs.) Crisis y desigualdad. II Congreso de Trabajo Economía y Sociedad. Madrid: Fundación 1º de Mayo, 2016. pp 294-316 Accesible: https://1mayo.ccoo.es/afd247c752ef7db2ea09c6594b0fb929000001.pdf

- Verd JM y López-Andreu M (2016). Crisis del empleo y polarización de las trayectorias laborales. El caso de los adultos jóvenes en Cataluña. Papers, vol 101, n1, pp.5-30. Accesible: http://papers.uab.cat/article/view/v101-n1-verd-lopez-andreu

- Salazar Martínez de Iturrate, P. Relaciones laborales neoliberales: la subordinación ultra-contractual. Sociología del Trabajo, nº95 (2019), 89-103. Accesible: https://revistas.ucm.es/index.php/STRA/article/view/66444/4564456552715

5. Flexibility in the organization of production and service

- Banyuls J y Lorente R. (2010): “La industria del automóvil en España: Globalización y gestión laboral” en Revista de Economía Crítica, nº9. Disponible en http://revistaeconomiacritica.org/sites/default/files/revistas/n9/2_Banyuls_Llorente.pdf

- Moreno, S; Godino, A; Recio, A (2014): "Servicios externalizados y condiciones laborales: De la competencia de precios a la presión de los tiempos de trabajo". Sociología del Trabajo, núm. 81, pp. 50-67.

6. Collective bargaining processes

- Martin Artiles, A (2014): “2. Reforma de la negociación colectiva en Presentación. Transformaciones recientes en el modelo de relaciones laborales”. En Anuario IET de Trabajo y Relaciones Laborales, Vol. 2, pp. 10-17. Accesible en: http://dx.doi.org/10.5565/rev/aiet.23

- García Calavia M.A., Rigby M. (2016): “Recursos de poder de los sindicatos en España. Su examen a través de la negociación colectiva”. En: Sociología del trabajo, Nº 87, 2016, págs. 7-24

7. Work, salaried work and labour market

- Torns, T., Recio C. (2012): Las desigualdades de género en el mercado de trabajo: entre la continuidad y la transformación. En Revista de Economía Crítica, nº14. http://revistaeconomiacritica.org/sites/default/files/revistas/n14/Semimonografico-4.-Torns-Recio.pdf

8. Social norm of employment?

- Prieto C (2013). “Las políticas de empleo en el marco de las metamorfosis de la norma social del trabajo” En Clivatge, nº2. http://revistes.ub.edu/index.php/clivatge/article/view/10023/12892

- Jódar P, Pericàs J.M. (2017): “Precarizacion y degradacion del trabajo” En Revista de Economía Crítica, nº23. https://www.revistaeconomiacritica.org/index.php/rec/article/view/135/117

Software

Not relevant.

Language list

Name	Group	Language	Semester	Turn
(PAUL) Classroom practices	51	Catalan	second semester	afternoon
(TE) Theory	51	Catalan	second semester	afternoon