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Sociology for Business

Code: 102304 ECTS Credits: 6

2025/2026

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

Contact

Name:: Clara Aurora 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 various practices of labour management, work organization and production / service and their effects on the working and living conditions, highlighting inequalities by occupational group and gender. It also considers 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	2, 3, 5, 1, 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	2, 3, 5, 1, 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 development of a group project (four people) that involves four submissions, three of which are assessable. These will be tutored in the classroom on the dates established by the professor (the presence of at least one of the group members must be guaranteed). The work involves conducting and analysing two interviews (with a woman and a man) with salaried workers, parents of children under 11 years old, regarding labour management practices related to working hours and their effects on working and living conditions (Topic 3), especially in terms of work-life balance and performance of domestic work and childcare. On the other hand, students must also study for an individual multiple-choice exam based on the work done during class time and the corresponding texts from the core bibliography, which can be updated at the beginning of the course.

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	2, 3, 5, 1, 6, 7, 9, 10, 8, 16, 15, 14, 12, 13, 11, 17, 4
Team work + attendance	50%	0	0	2, 3, 5, 1, 6, 7, 9, 10, 8, 16, 15, 14, 12, 13, 11, 17, 4

Throughout the course different evaluable activities will be carried out.

The group assignment (4 people) will be assessed in three stages and will account for 45% of the final grade. The first evaluable submission will consist of the socio-labour profile of the two interviewees and the substantive justification for each of the questions in a script proposed by the professor to specify the labour management practices and their effects on working and living conditions (10% grade). The second submission will be the interviews (not assessable). The third submission will be the selection and ordered categorization of interview texts, guided by the conceptual framework of Topic 3 (15% grade). The fourth submission will be the presentation of the analysis in terms of a summary and interpretation of the specific labour management practices in relation to the working hours and their effects on the working and living conditions of the couple with minor children in their care, along with the conclusions (20% grade). Each submission will be preceded by a tutorial.

In this subject, the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies is allowed as an integral part of the development of the work, provided that the final result reflects a significant contribution of the students in the analysis and personal reflection. The students will have to clearly identify which parts have been generated with this technology, specify the tools used and include a critical reflection on how these have influenced the process and the final result of the activity. The non-transparency of the use of AI will be considered a lack of academic honesty and may lead to a penalty in the grade of the activity, or greater penalties in cases of seriousness.

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 withthe 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 exam must be approved with sufficiency separately, which will not average between them, but will be retaken autonomously. Students who have not submitted all four group assignments or do not complete the individual exam will be deemed NOT EVALUABLE.

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 ofan 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.

Groups and Languages

Please note that this information is provisional until 30 November 2025. You can check it through this link. To consult the language you will need to enter the CODE of the subject.

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